The Return
by Hermione8888
Summary: Susan and Peter go back to Narnia! Caspian reunites with Susan, and they live happily ever after... Not exactly. Sorry chapters are short, I wrote this book for my little sis. Also, I'm pretty young, and this is my first fanfic, so please don't judge it too badly. Feel free to review, though! Please sitck with it, don't leave because the 1st chapter is boring...
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own_ _rights to most of these characters and most of the settings because they belong to C.S. Lewis. Some characters and settings belong to Rick Riordan._

Susan

I looked at him, thinking that I had to leave; I would never see him again. His wavy, soft, brown hair glimmered in the sunlight. His expression was pained beyond anything I had ever seen. I wished I didn't have to leave, but I had to do what was right. But I just couldn't leave without saying goodbye. So I walked up to him, feeling everyone's eyes burning on my back.

"I wish we had more time together" he said. I completely agree. _Oh, please Aslan let me come back._

"It wouldn't have worked anyway" I said.

"Why not?" A frown appeared on his face.

"I am 1300 years older than you" I just had to see him smile one last time. He smiled at me with his beautiful smile and perfect teeth. As I turned to leave, I felt something pulling me to him, like magic. The next thing I knew, we were kissing. _Our first and last one_ , I thought. Everyone was looking, but I didn't care, the only thing that mattered was him. When we finally broke off, we gave each other one last hug before I turned around to leave. I didn't want to ever let go. It was terrible, leaving Narnia and finding myself back in England.

When we got home, I shut myself in my room and started crying. Crying because I remembered Cair Paravel, my true home, in ruins. Crying because I knew I would never go back. Crying because I missed him.

Strangely, Peter was my biggest comfort at the time. He didn't allow Lucy and Edmund to see me: he was being the big brother when I needed him, I was thankful for that. I know he didn't approve of Caspian, thinking he only liked me because I was pretty. But after seeing us that morning, he knew that he had been wrong. Now he understood and approved of him, but it was too late. I think he felt guilty somehow. It's not like he could have done anything about it. I doubt that made him feel any better, though. After a week or so, I started going about the house. Lucy and Edmund didn't ask questions about what had happened or why. Peter never brought it up. After a while, things started getting better, although, I would never be fully happy after leaving Narnia. Peter was invited to study with the Professor in America. Meanwhile, I stayed with Mother and Father in a house not far from the Professor's so that Peter could come live with us. Lucy and Edmund got the worst part of the deal: they had to go live with Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold. Not only that, but they had to live with our rotten cousin Eustace. He had short blonde hair, cold blue eyes, horrid eyebrows, and a terrible temper. He was a spoiled brat, it didn't help that Uncle Harold and Aunt Alberta gave him everything he wanted.

Almost a year had passed since we came to America. I missed my siblings dearly. _I should write them a letter_ , I thought.

 _Dear Lucy and Edmund,_

 _I do wish you were here with us; it's been such an adventure, but nothing like our times in Narnia. America is very exciting, except, we never see father, he works so very hard. Peter has been invited to the British Council's tea party this week by a member's daughter, who happens to be very beautiful. I think she fancies him. Mother hopes you won't mind another few months in Cambridge._

The letter would most likely arrive a week from today. Suddenly, I came up with a great idea. _I will surprise them the day the letter arrives, its Peter's week off and Mother and Father won't mind for sure if we just stay for a few days, after all, we have much money to spare!_ I could dance at the thought of seeing my siblings again.

I told Peter and he thought it was a great idea, so we went to tell our parents. Mother looked beautiful, with her slick black hair and red lips. Father looked handsome too. His hair was a light shade of red, like Lucy's, and he had a playful smile. You would never have thought he was a soldier at first sight. When I told them, he said it would be fine only if we paid for it. I had loads of money from my savings account and so did Peter. We could afford to stay there a few days, if only to see our brother and sister.

An hour later, we found ourselves on a ship to England. In a week, we were on land. We knew the Scrubb's address, so we could sneak into the house and hide. Then we could jump up at them and say: _Surprise_! When we got there, apparently the kids weren't home. So we went upstairs and hid under the bed. I looked around the room, it wasn't the best quality but it wasn't bad, the only thing beautiful about it was a painting of a ship on the far wall. A few minutes later, Lucy came storming into the room carrying a letter, _my letter_ , I realized, in her hand. She opened it and started reading. It hurt to see them and not react, but yet we felt like we should just let them read the letter first. When she was finished, she started marvelling about the picture on the wall, saying it looked Narnian. _I wish._

Before we could speak, we heard a voice.

"There once were two orphans who wasted their time, believing in Narnian nursery rhymes." I turned around in time to see the feet of our ugly, ungrateful cousin leaning in the doorway. Peter's face had gone red and I had to pull him farther down to keep him from showing himself.

"Don't you ever knock?!" Edmund said angrily

"It's my house, I do as I please, you're just guests. What's so fascinating about that picture anyway, it's hideous!"

"You won't see it from the other side of the door."

"Edmund it looks like the water is actually moving." Lucy said, ignoring the situation.

"See! This is what happens when you read all those fanciful novels and fairy tales of yours!"

"There once was a boy called Eustace, who read books full of facts that were useless..." I stifled a laugh.

"People like you are the sort of people that become a hideous burden to people like me! Who read books with real information!"

"Please let me hit him!"

"No!" I was relieved that Lucy said that because I don't like violence, even if I know Edmund would win easily.

But then, Lucy became distracted with the painting again.

"Edmund!" she yelled.

I could see water coming out from somewhere in the room, I just couldn't see from under the bed. There was some muffled yelling, and then I could hear Eustace:

"Oh, I'll just smash the rotten thing!"

More yelling. Peter and I moved out of the bed as fast as we could, submerged in water. We could just make out Eustace's form, struggling to go out of the water, which now seemed far taller than the roof. We kept swimming until all of a sudden, I felt a strong arm grabbing my waist, pulling me up.


	2. Chapter 2

Caspian

I wish she didn't have to leave, but she had to do what was right. When she left, my heart was torn. I struggled to keep that last image of her in my mind as I finished my speech and rushed to the castle. Then quickly, I went into my room, grabbed my secret painting pallet and got started. It took me two days to finish every little detail. When I showed my masterpiece to the staff, they demanded it was put on display. I disagreed. Instead, I put it in my royal chambers so when I woke up, I could see her. This way, I would never forget the flowing, curly, black hair, the pale, soft, skin and those magnificent blue eyes. I spent the next two weeks trapped in my chambers, not letting anyone in. But I had to return to my new duties as the king of Narnia. I came up with an idea, _why not rebuild Cair Paravel? If Susan ever came back with her siblings, they would have their home to go back to!_ We started construction a few months later, for the basic outline of the building; it would take a year to finish. The only problem was we didn't know the location of anything else: the bedchambers, the treasure rooms, the kitchens…

One day, I was in my room, trying to figure out the plans with Trumpkin, the dwarf, and Professor Cornelius, my tutor. We were arguing over where the royal chambers ought to be and what they should look like. Then, a councilman, Drinian, walked in. he wanted to speak to me privately. So the Professor and Trumpkin left, bowing to me before doing so. Drinian started talking about a new ship or something, but I was lost in thought, staring at the picture behind him.

"Your Majesty, are you listening?" said Drinian, a bit of concern washed over his expression.

"Of course, Drinian." But my eyes were still lingering on the picture. Drinian turned around to see what I was looking at. His mouth fell open in awe.

"Who is this queen, this magnificent beauty?" asked Drinian, clearly astonished by my painting.

"That's Queen Susan." I answered, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"She's gorgeous! I don't know who she is, probably from a fairy-tale or something, but you must be dying to kiss those dreamy lips, eh?" And he winked at me.

"Excuse me, please." I said, hot tears streaming down my face. I ran and ran; no one stopped me, until I reached my secret garden. It was a miracle none of the gardeners had found it yet. It was an old courtyard, probably built in the Telemarine time. It was surrounded by trees and had a fountain in the middle. It was one of the only places where I could be in peace. The others were probably telling Drinian the story by now. I repeated his words in my mind. Drinian had no idea how much it had hurt me. I didn't blame him though. He hadn't been there the day she left; I don't even know if he knows she ever came back! Hopefully the others would take pity on him and not punish him for offending me, he was our best sailor.

After a few days, things had gone back to normal. I was again in my quarters, studying the palace maps with Trumpkin and the Professor. We were still arguing on where to put the bedrooms when a girl came in. She was beautiful beyond comprehension; as beautiful as Susan. She had long, curly, golden hair, soft, pale skin, and full lips. The only things not beautiful about her were her eyes. They were blue, but nothing like Susan's. These eyes were cold and full of hate for the world. They searched the room, and when she found me, she looked at me with a strange expression. It wasn't love at first sight, but something less, like she thought I was a toy she could play with.

"Oh, there you are!" she said with a melodic voice that yet seemed weak and flirtatious.

"Me?" I asked.

"No, silly! Him." She nodded towards my professor.

"Ah, yes, I was wondering where you were." I was still lost. "Caspian, this is our best archer, along with Trumpkin, Devon. She is a Veela that escaped her island to join the Amazons. There, she learned how to fight." _If this girl is an Amazon, I am a princess_. I thought. "She escaped the Amazons to pursue love and ended up here."

"Eww, who is this ugly girl on the wall?" She asked. I lounged to smite her across the face, but before I could, the Professor stopped me.

"Calm down my king, she did not mean to offend you; she doesn't know who she is." He shooed her out of my room and added: "You better get over her, my king."

"I will never get over her!" I yelled. "I will love her and wait for her for the rest of my days!" I could feel my face glowing red with anger, _how dare he suggest that?! How dare Devon insult her like that!?_

A few weeks after this, Drinian came into my room once more to tell me about the ship. I had promised Aslan that as soon as there was peace over all of Narnia, I would go looking for the seven lords of Telemar, my father's closest friends and most loyal supporters. Once my father died, Miraz sent them all on an impossible quest to get rid of them. I believe they are still out there. It was my duty to find out what happened to them and rescue them if they're alive. They had been sent to the Lone Islands, where no Narnians had ever come back from alive. My men were constructing a ship to serve this purpose. It would be filled with the bravest men of Narnia. _And Devon_ , I remembered. Drinian would be the captain of the ship, even though I would be in charge. The ship was called the Dawn Treader. It's the finest ship in Narnia's navy. It was almost as big as the castle. It had a dragon figurehead that made it look more powerful. The whole ship was painted gold, so it glimmered in the sunlight. The masts were high and the decks were low. I would sleep in the lower deck, in a grand room with a view of the water. In that room, Peter's sword, Edmund's torch, Lucy's knife and healing cordial, and Susan's bow and arrows, were laid. I chose to leave her horn in the castle, in case anything happened to us at sea. Her horn is the thing I hold most dear, for it led me to meeting her. There were also bedrooms made especially for them, even though we all knew they weren't coming. The day I had to get on the ship, I thought of her. I wished she was there at my side, going on the ship with her siblings, but all those thoughts were washed away when Devon came.

"Caspian, it's time to go!"

Being on the ship was easy. There were no storms coming, no men falling overboard, no sign of mutiny. The ship held great views, Drinian was a great leader, Reepicheep was "guarding" the ship, and Devon was behaving. I'd seen her shoot. She was good, but Susan was far better. We still have not spotted land, as we expected for we were only a week into our journey. All of a sudden, I heard faint shouts. _They were coming from the water!_ I looked down and there happened to be a couple of children swimming.

I jumped off the ship, men yelling at me. But I didn't care; I needed to save these kids. A few men followed my lead after seeing the children. One more came out of the water. This one was flapping his arms, yelling at the top of his lungs, whilst the others remained calm. When I got in the water, I searched for the kids. I saw a girl, not far away. She had reddish hair and seemed to be yelling at a dark-haired boy nearby, who looked as if he may be her brother. I grabbed hold of her and she looked up. Suddenly, I heard a little voice I recognized.

"Caspian!" She said.

"Lucy!"


	3. Chapter 3

Lucy

 _I am in Narnia!_ I thought happily. I could see a huge galleon rushing towards us. Then, suddenly, I felt a strong hand pulling me forward. I looked at the owner and was surprised to see the familiar face.

"Caspian!" I realized excitedly.

"Lucy!" He replied. I let him carry me forward until I heard some more shouting, I turned around to tell Eustace to shut up and saw my sister Susan and my brother Peter. I wish I could get their attention, but they were too far away.

"Edmund, its Caspian!" I felt he ought to know who was carrying away his little sister. Apparently, Susan also heard me, for she started trying to free herself from her rescuer's grasp. When he wouldn't let her, she slapped him full in the face and swam as fast as she could towards me and Caspian. Caspian spotted her coming too, for he let me go and swam toward her. There were tears in both of their eyes as they kissed once more. A young man swam towards me. I recognized my beloved older brother's features. I swam and hugged him too. Then, I moved on to Susan, who had finally broken free of Caspian's embrace. When Edmund finally caught up, he joined our hugging group. Caspian then recommended we go to the ship, for we were still in the water. Susan went up with Caspian, I went up with Peter, Edmund went up with one of the other sailors that had gone into the water, and Eustace went up with the sailor that had tried to save him. Eustace was kicking and hitting the poor sailor, who was doing his best to hold on. Once we were on the ship, we did another round of hugs. I was glad when I saw Reepicheep, the brave, chivalrous, courteous, and deadly adorable mouse. Suddenly, a door opened, and a beautiful young woman came out. She flashed Caspian a perfect smile, and then looked around until she saw my sister, then her smile disappeared completely, transforming into a frown. She looked at Susan with pure hate, and Susan did the same. I could almost see sparks coming from them, like they might explode. It was clear these two were going to be enemies. The question was: _why did this new girl we've just met hate my gentle sister?_

"Caspian, why did you allow these strangers into our ship?" she said with a beautiful voice, which would be musical if it wasn't filled with hate. Now I understood. She probably liked Caspian and knew this was Queen Susan, the girl that had kissed him not long ago. Caspian didn't look like he liked her at all. I couldn't blame him, I disliked her myself. Then I looked at Eustace, who was staring wide-eyed at her. Now that I think about it, most sailors were, too. I can't deny that she was beautiful, but something about her set me off. The eyes, they were an icy blue. They made you feel worthless. "Who are you?" She asked to us. This proved my earlier theory wrong; she didn't know who we were. But that still didn't explain that hate for Susan.

"Behold our castaways, Peter the Magnificent, Susan the Gentle, Edmund the Just, and Lucy the Valiant, Kings and Queens of Narnia." Caspian introduced us to the ship members. They vowed when they heard our names. Some gossiped, looking at Susan and Peter, probably talking about how Peter was High King and Susan was Caspian's beautiful love interest. Obviously, no fingers pointed at me or Edmund, we were just the little kids. We were not special. No one looked at me admiring my beauty and I didn't think that was right. _I wish I was beautiful like Susan._

Caspian began by introducing us to some of the important crew members. First, we met Drinian. He was bald, which I found a little strange. He had hard, but kind, blue eyes which make you want to smile. These look foreign on him since he hardly ever smiles from the looks of him. He was nice enough, but had a strong, commanding voice that makes you want to follow his orders. Caspian said that he was the captain of the ship, even though we all knew who was really in charge. Then, he showed us around the ship. First, to the rowing room, which was empty, for there was a strong wind. A blessing of Aslan, Caspian told us. He explained it would last a few weeks. Then, he showed us the deck and the storage room. There were about fifty men in the ship. I couldn't lead so many people, but I wouldn't put it past Caspian. I really couldn't blame Susan and Devon, and probably all the girls in the kingdom, for liking him. I would like him myself if I were old enough. I mean with his flowing brown hair and his strong arms…. _Stop it!_ I told myself, _he's taken_.

Finally, he showed us to the sleeping rooms. Caspian's was the biggest _, obviously._ It was painted gold and brown and it had a master bed and big windows with a wonderful view of the sea. It had a large table full of maps and compasses. Then, we moved on to Peter's bedroom. His was painted red and gold. It was as big as Caspian's with a master bed too. Only this one had a shelf with a sword on it. I recognized it instantly. It was Peter's sword, the one given to him by Father Christmas. The room had a beautiful painting of Aslan on the wall. He looked so regal, like a true king, His mane shining in the sun. We moved on to Susan's bedroom. It was beautiful. The walls were painted silver and sky blue. Her bed was as large as Peter's and ten times softer. Like Peter's sword, her bow was on the wall. You could tell this was the room Caspian had put the most time into.

"Where is my horn?" Asked Susan.

"I left it in the castle, in case anything happened here." He blushed a little in that last part. Susan smiled in response, which seemed to calm him a bit. I know the horn is something they share. A memory, Caspian probably holds it dear; Susan did too, until she left.

We then went to Edmund's bedroom. His was big, but not nearly as big as Caspian's. His bed was also a bit smaller. The walls were painted green and silver, which he fancied. Since Ed had never gotten a visit from Father Christmas, there was nothing waiting for him. Or so we thought.

"I saved this for you." Caspian said, and then he tossed something at Edmund. He caught it easily.

"My torch!" Edmund exclaimed. He had gotten it for his birthday and as I understand it, he had used it to fight Telemarines, light up secret treasure chambers, and start a war.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for; my room. It was smaller than the rest but I didn't mind. It was nice and cosy, painted gold and red, like Peter's. It had a smaller bed, but it was soft. I felt like I could lie there all day. My healing cordial and dagger were on the wall. I went to get them, putting them on my belt, when…

"Land, Ho!" We quickly ran upstairs, with small visits to our rooms to get our weapons. Caspian gave Ed a sword and grabbed a crossbow for himself. We mounted a lifeboat to get to the island, which seemed like it had a little city.

"That's strange, not a Narnian flag in sight." Said Peter.

"But the Lone Islands have always been Narnia's." Edmund replied.

When we got there, the sun was almost setting. A bell rang, and both Susan and Caspian aimed their weapons at it. We walked about the city. No one in sight, _that's strange_. We were nearing the church, where we knew there must be someone because the bells had rung.

"Why don't you come here and, guard something." Edmund said to Eustace to keep him out of the way. When we entered the church, it seemed to be empty. There was a big book on a table in the middle of the room. There were names, some crossed out. And next to them, amounts of money.

"What is this?" Asked Susan. Caspian answered her question:

"Slave traders."


	4. Chapter 4

Edmund

"Slave traders." Caspian said. At the same time, the bells started ringing and men came down ropes from the ceiling. I took out my sword and started to fight. I was fighting two at a time. They weren't the best swordsmen I'd ever seen, but then again, I lived with Peter. Finally, I killed one of them and injured the other. Just then tough, I heard a familiar scream and the doors opened. A man came in. He was dressed in loose pants and a shirt and was wearing a turban on his dark long hair. His hand was on a knife, pressed against my cousin's throat.

"Unless you want to hear this one scream like a girl again, I say you drop you weapons."

"Like a girl?!" Eustace said. The chief, it seemed, dug deeper with his dagger.

I dropped mine reluctantly. I saw Lucy throw her dagger at the ground and Peter and Caspian gently bringing their weapons down. Susan's bow was already on the ground and she seemed to be fixing her dress, I didn't know why that would help, though. Then, the traders grabbed us.

"Let me go!"

"I am your king!"

"You don't know what you're doing!"

"I order you to put me down!"

"Take these three to the dungeons! We'll put these ladies in the market!" they started moving, throwing us about. I heard shouts of distress and realized some of those were mine.

"Caspian!"

"Susan!"

"Susan! Lucy! Edmund!"

"Edmund! Peter!"

"Lucy!" I shouted.

There was fire in Caspian and Peter's eyes. There was distress in Lucy's, and depression in Susan's. _Poor Susan_. Finally reunited with her love and now he was being taken away from her, right before her eyes. Meanwhile, Eustace's eyes were filled with hatred. They weren't directed at the traders, but at Caspian, Lucy, Peter, Susan, and me. _It's not like it's our fault! In fact, had it been any other one out there and we would not be here right now!_ Peter, Caspian, and I could have taken him down easily, even if the Chief had snuck up behind us. Susan would have poked him with her arrow or shot him if he was far away. Lucy could have escaped, she was fast and small. _But no!_ _It had to be Eustace. And now, he blames us!_

I struggled to get free of my capturer's grasp, but he was too strong. After Peter had knocked the wind out of his, they had sent in reinforcements. Now, he was restrained by two. Caspian stepped on his foot and then punched him in the gut. At this, he let go, giving Caspian the opportunity to run, straight at my sister. He was almost there, when two more jumped on him. He fell to the ground, his nose bleeding. Susan screamed and screamed, but with no use except to get threatened with a knife at her throat. Lucy was crying, and I didn't blame her, it was a truly horrible sight.

They took Lucy, Susan, and Eustace out of the church, to the market. Meanwhile, they took me, Caspian, and Peter down a flight of stairs that I had not noticed before. I could hear the traders whispering:

"Why are we taking these fine men to the dungeons?"

"They are dangerous you idiot!" Strangely, I felt a gush of pride. I was being treated as an equivalent to Peter and Caspian, who had always been held as superior. I didn't see why they should be. Sure, they were the most handsome young men in Narnia. Peter, with his short blonde hair and blue eyes. And Caspian, with his wavy brown hair and warm brown eyes _. But looks aren't everything_. And then, I realized, they didn't just have looks, they were excellent swordsmen, mighty kings, fierce fighters, and kind people. _But I am all of that too!_ I thought. Usually, the amount of attention they got didn't bother me. I don't want attention. I just want to be equal.

"There you go!" I was pushed against the hard cell floor, which took me out of my thinking. Then, the guards locked the door and left. As soon as they were out of sight, Peter started pounding the cell bars. Caspian had retreated to a far corner of the cell, his head in his knees. He was crying. I had never seen him cry before, or Peter. But then I realized, this guy had been through a lot. First, his father dies, then his mother, then he is betrayed by the only family member he trusts, then he is left alone by the girl he loves to rule a kingdom, then he finally finds her again, only to have her taken away from him. And he still made it look easy.

When Peter finally gave up, he went to console him. I guess he had much practice, helping Susan get through her trauma. Still, it felt strange, seeing Caspian break down like that and Peter helping him. I didn't have much more time to think about that, though.

"Who are you?" asked a quivering voice from another dark corner. I thought we were alone. Quickly, Caspian wiped away his tears and stood up. Instantly, he looked powerful and strong again.

"High King Peter." He said.

"Umm, Edmund. I mean King Edmund." I said, trying to look good.

"Hmm, you remind me of a king I once served." The stranger said, looking at Caspian.

"Lord Bern?"

"Was, now no longer deserving of that title." The lord said.

"You used to serve my father." Caspian said, straightening up a little. "I am King Caspian, the Tenth." The Lord fell on his knees, asking for forgiveness for not having bowed before.

"You need to get out of here! As fast as you can!" Then, we heard a little sound coming from the hall. Lord Bern retreated to his corner, where he was almost impossible to make out. All of our hands automatically travelled to our waist, where we keep our swords, but sadly, these had been confiscated.

"Your Majesties!"

"I!" We all said at once. He started picking the lock with his sword until we heard a faint click. All of us, including Lord Bern, came out.

"Let's rescue the rest." Reep said. I couldn't agree more. He told us the plan, and we set out.

Once outside, we could see everyone that getting sold. Lucy, Susan, and Eustace. I hoped we weren't too late.

"50!"

"60!"

"100 for the little lady!"

"Sold!" oh no, we were too late to save Lucy. We could deal with that later, because now, it was Susan's turn.

"150!"

"200!"

"250!" I was amazed at how much people would pay for my sister.

"1,000!"

"Sold!" he pushed her off the stage and she fell to the ground. She started fixing her dress again, and then I saw it, she pulled out an arrow, only to be cut at lightning speed by her owner. She smirked and started struggling again. I looked at Caspian. He wasn't there! He must have bought Susan, and she knows. Eustace was sold. Then, the man that had Lucy pulled off his hood.

"For Narnia!"


	5. Chapter 5

Eustace

As we arrived on the island, I started to get a bad feeling. The air was too dry, it was too hot already, and there were no plants in sight!

"I want to go back to England!" I yelled. "I want to go back to-". The rest of my sentence was muffled by Caspian, who had put his hand over my mouth to shush me. I detest that stuck-up king. He thinks he rules everything! They should try for a more diplomatic method here, royalty is corrupt and old-fashioned. At that time, we heard a bell from a tower far away. Susan and Caspian raised their weapons. I thought that was absurdly pointless because even their long-distance weapons couldn't reach the tower.

"We should explore the city." Peter said.

"But, what if it's dangerous?" I asked. It felt like this a good question, but everybody looks at me strangely, so I added:

"I mean, for Lucy, what if it's too dangerous for her?" at this, she shot me a glare. I truly didn't mind, I enjoyed annoying my cousins.

"It's Queen Lucy the Valiant, remember?"

"Oh, right." I said, trying to appear confused.

"Will you guys just be quiet so we can search the city?!" Caspian said. Great, he's annoyed! That was the only thing I liked better than annoying my cousins. They deserve it; they have been annoying me since they were born.

We spent hours walking through the city, sometimes checking houses for people. All I really wanted was to go back to the ship! I was terribly scared, but I wouldn't admit it in front of Caspian and the rest. They seem to be completely unbothered by this whole thing. I didn't understand how my cousins could remain calm even though we were on a completely irrational magical kingdom! It was just like the ones in fairy tales: the handsome princes, the beautiful princesses, the talking animals… all I wanted was to go back home! At least there I had more ability to annoy my cousins, here, they are happy! And they don't even care that I'm not! I wish we could at least go back to that cursed ship of theirs, it's better than being hot and starving here! Even though Drinian is always shouting commands, his wife Alberta is always cleaning up my room and misplacing my items, Ariane is too cheery, and Brian keeps reciting math facts and studying and acting smart, it's still better than this. And the worst part was: my cousins didn't seem at least one bit bothered by this! Peter was leading the group and bossing us around like he owns the place, Susan was holding hands with Caspian and looking at him like he's a treasure, which made me sick, Edmund was looking around homes and talking to Peter like nothing is happening, and Lucy was practically skipping around the place. But the worst of them all was the rat: he walked around proudly, swishing his sword, yelling at the air to come out and attack him. I'd actually found a couple of people cowered in their houses, but I thought if I don't say anything, Peter will let us go back to the ship. We had been walking for hours and my feet hurt, but he was determined to go to the tower where we heard the bells to ask why there are no Narnian flags. He also wanted to know where we are. He said that since we heard the bells, there must be people around. I must agree, but I still don't like it. When we finally got to the tower, I started getting chills, I was actually glad when Edmund said:

"Why don't you stay here and, guard something?"

"That's a great idea, cousin!" I responded as I stumbled over to where they were. I felt so relieved that I didn't have to go in there with them: something about that place threw me off. Caspian handed me a knife that looked very much like the ones pirates would use in those horrid fairy tales. I didn't know how to use one anyway, but I gave them a look to try to convince them that I was brave. I think they bought it because they went in. The knife was already starting to feel heavy in my hand as I waited outside. I don't know how Peter, Caspian, and Edmund manage a sword, which is twice this knife's size. It was really hot out there; I was getting sweaty, which I absolutely despised: It's disgusting. I was also quite hungry, since we had been walking around for hours. I was starting to wish I was in there with them. The stones of the tower, which we now found out, was actually a church, looked like they would keep the Sun out. I was also a bit scared of being alone out here, I mean, _would they hear me if I screamed? Would they care?_ Surely sweet little Lucy would. It's terrible out here. I started to panic; _maybe they left me out here to die!_ I didn't have much time to hold on to that thought because, soon enough, I felt a pair of hands on me. I screamed, trying to get the rest to hear me, but then, my aggressor pressed my knife against my throat. He must have taken it out of my hand as I was screaming! The bells started ringing again and it is all so confusing, the bells and my screams and the door opening and everybody's startled faces as they saw me. It looked like they had been fighting other people and still were, as soon as they got over the shock of me being captured. I felt so angry, because they left me outside, surely knowing I would get attacked.

"Drop you weapons!" The man that had me yelled. Susan immediately dropped hers and started smoothing out her dress. _Finally, something that makes sense!_ If I was about to be captured, I would give up and try to look nice too. Lucy and Edmund threw their weapons to the ground indignantly and glared at me as if it was my fault. Peter and Caspian set theirs down carefully, as if they were afraid they would break, which is silly. Then the men they were fighting started taking hold of them and pulling them apart. "Take these three to the dungeons! We'll put these ladies in the market!" Of course, I was one of the "ladies" that would be put in the market. I guess that is because I was handsome and smart and they could make a lot of money selling me. The chief took me and the girls outside. I could see where he was taking us. It was sort of a plaza, like a town square. On one side, there was a big platform, a stage. On one side of it there were a few people waiting to get on. A few of them caught my eye: there was a little boy with a bad leg that looked like he had trouble walking, a pair of strong-looking young men, three ladies talking amongst themselves, and a young girl that looked around my age. The little boy was then pushed on the stage. He looked very frightened, but, what did I care? The chief started yelling numbers. The boy was soon sold for 50 pounds, or whatever currency they have in this wretched place. The men were sold one by one for extremely high prices, the ladies for medium prices, and the young girl was sold for a high price because of her cooking abilities. Then, it was young Lucy's turn. She was sold for a fair price, I don't know why exactly because she was completely useless. Then Susan was sold. She got sold for the highest price I had seen. Something seemed a bit fishy about that, too because Susan is useless also, must be her beauty. But I was too horrified to pay attention to her because they were about to sell me! I was getting myself ready to hear the screams of the crowd trying to buy me, but nothing happened. Everybody was quiet and snickering. I guess they were trying to figure out how to buy me without becoming poor when a guy pulled off his hood and yelled:

"For Narnia!"


	6. Chapter 6

Gael

Life in Narrowheaven could have been worse. I was able to go to school when most girls couldn't. Also, my family had a nice house. It was made of wood and brick and had a nicely-sized living room. I had always dreamed of living in one of those castles that they have in the fairy tales my mom told me, though. My mom was very kind. She cooked for us and sewed my clothes and sang to me. Mom was also very beautiful; she had black hair that fell to her hip and green eyes like an olive. My father was just as good. He liked to lift me in his strong arms and take me to work sometimes. I often visited my aunt's house. She was not as nice as my mom and sometimes very strict, but she took me to the market with her, which not even my mom did. I had a lot of friends in my school, who sometimes played with me in my house because it was biggest. My best friend's name was Venus. She had red hair and green eyes, but not like my mother's, hers look like the sea. Venus as the prettiest girl in school.

The only thing that was awful about Narrowheaven was that there were slave traders. There was a whole slave market down in the plaza. There, people who were wondering about the city who look like they were from somewhere else were sold. Once a month, those awful traders would pick "tributes" to be sent into the ocean. There, they would be consumed by the Mist. None of the people who have gone there ever came back. It was every child's worst nightmare to get picked and taken there. Venus's uncle was chosen, I remember her crying for hours in school because of it. Most kids cry when their loved ones are taken. One of the boys in my class was taken last year.

He cried and his friends cried and his parents cried and his sister cried and the teacher cried and I cried, too. My worst fear was that they would take me or my family. Every night, Father assured me that will never happen, but I knew it could. Still, it calmed me. If I had a tough night and I can't calm down, Mom would sing to me. One day, I went to school to hear that my friend's grandfather had been taken. I knew the drill by than as it happened every month; you try to comfort them, they will let you, you give them hot chocolate, you assure them that it will be fine, and they calm down. That time, it was my friend Madge. She was a bit harder to comfort because she's the richest girl in school and she always gets her way, but that didn't mean she was arrogant. She was actually quite nice. When the school day was over, I went back to my house. As usual, Mom was cooking dinner so I sat down to do my homework. I didn't get many high marks in school but I'd never failed a class. I'd much rather bake some biscuits or play with my friends than study, though. I was thinking about that when I heard a knock on the door. _How strange, Father is never this early_. Mom opened the door and went pale, all the colour drained from her cheeks.

"Does Helene Desertrose live here?" a voice from outside asked.

"Y-yes, that's me." Mom replied.

"You have been picked as tribute, you leave in an hour." And with that, they closed the door. Tears were strolling down my cheeks in realization that I was going to lose my beloved mother. She was crying, too, and that made it worse because she hardly ever cries. Then, she ran outside to get a messenger to tell Father. He got there in fifteen minutes, very quick for a horse. He ran inside, hugged both of us and took Mom to their room to talk. Then, he started talking to me. He told me that I would be staying in Auntie Anne's house and Father would move there with us. Five minutes later, they came to take Mom away. They put her in a wagon with other people. Father tried to get her, but they pushed him back and he fell to the ground. There was nothing we could do.

Then, we started hearing shouts from the plaza. Father, Auntie, and I went to see what was going on. When we got there, it was a mess. Half the plaza was destroyed and men were fighting with whatever they could grab. Most of the people I recognized. However, there were several people I did not. Many of them looked like sailors, three of them looked like princes, and two ladies looked like the princesses from the stories Mom used to tell. One of them seemed to be using a bow and arrow, the other one fought with whatever she could and a small knife. One of the princes was using a crossbow and was swinging around the place, knocking people off balconies and kicking them. I didn't think he actually killed them. Another one was taking whatever he could find and using it against them. The last one was using his sword to knock people out or push them. Sometimes he would cut them, too. Some people did die, all of them slave traders. That was terrible, no one deserved to die. We all have bad inside of us, just as we have good, some people just choose the wrong side to act on.

Father took off from where we were hiding and joined the fray, Auntie holding me back before I could follow him. When the battle was over, the princesses and princes started going to the port. I finally spotted my father coming close to one of the princes and I ran after him, Auntie after me.

"Thank you, my King." Father said. "Gael, I'm going to sea to look for Mom, you be good. I'll be back. If I'm not, behave, you are staying with Auntie Anne, all right?" All I could do was nod and hug him one last time. Then, Auntie took me away.

When we got to her house, she told me where I would be sleeping. My room was actually not that bad; the walls were, as usual, made of brick and painted a peach colour. My bed was similar to the one back home, only smaller. There was one closet where I could put my stuff when we moved it here. There was a thick wool carpet on the floor to cover the dirt. There was a painting on the wall of Auntie, Mom, Father, and me. That's when I decided I couldn't stay. I had to find Father. Luckily, I knew where the King's ship was. All I had to do was get there. First, I wrote a note, thanking Auntie for everything she had ever done for me:

 _Dear Auntie Ann,_

 _You have been the best aunt I could have wished for, like the fairy godmother from the fairy tales. You have let me stay in your house and offered support when Mom left. Sadly, I must leave you. Don't bother looking for me, because I left. I snuck into the King's ship to be with Father._

 _Love,_

 _Gael_

Then, I snuck out the window and snuck past the streets. They were cold and empty, but there was a party in the plaza, celebrating the defeat of the traders. I could see the port now. _How am I supposed to get in? Think, Gael, think._ The men were carrying boxes and sacks of food on the ship. That's when I had an idea: I'd sneak into one of them and a sailor would put me on the ship! I spotted a sack nearby, which was concealed by a pair of large boxes. _Perfect!_ I emptied it into a well nearby and climbed in. In a few minutes, I felt like everything was turning. I was being picked up and put into the ship. Sometime afterwards, I couldn't tell how much because of my position, I heard a boy shouting. Then, a squeaky voice came around. I could hear swords clashing and people laughing and maybe those two were having a fight. Then I felt something bumping into me, knocking me to the ground and opening my sack.

"Gael?" My father asked. I saw him and ran to hug him. A really scary-looking man holding an orange came, looking straight at me. When he finally got to where Father was standing, he said:

"Looks like we have an extra crew member!" and he smiled, and suddenly, he didn't seem scary at all. One of the princesses came; I knew it was proper to bow.

"Your Majesty."

"Call me Lucy." She said, and like that, we were friends. She showed me to her room and said I would sleep with her. Then, she dress me and herself up in more comfortable ship clothes and she presented me to her sister, who by now had changed.

"Land ho!


	7. Chapter 7

Peter

The fight was finally coming to an end. There were quite a few dead people, but they were all slave traders. They deserved it, they had been selling and buying innocent people, but then, they did the worst thing possible. They tried to sell my family. _The royal family!_ Luckily, Reepicheep had come to our aid and got us out in time to save them. At first, it had been too late to save Lucy, but Caspian quickly retrieved Susan. Drinian had time to get our weapons and give them to us before the fight. Now that it was over, Lucy was running around the place, healing the town's people with the help of her healing cordial and Ariane, who had a nice gift for healing. When they were done, we saw to that all enslaved people from the town were returned to their families. Then, we walked back to our ship in glory, surrounded by the grateful people of Narrowheaven. A man came running at us and was stopped by Drinian, who was our guard until we returned to the ship.

"Your Majesties!"

"It's all right, Drinian, let him talk." Caspian ordered.

"My wife was taken by the Mist; please let me go on your trip to save her!"

"Of course, you must." I said. And with that, we got on the ship.

A few weeks later, I went to the lower deck to figure out where we would stop next. To help me with the math of it, I called Brian, the best person for the job. Brian was a small, skinny, and yet handsome boy. He had some nice blue eyes and some of the best hair on the ship. After Caspian, of course, who won't admit it, but has the best hair in all of Narnia. I was getting along well with him ever since we left the first time. Since then, I figured out he was a really nice young man with a bad past. He deserves to be king as much as I do, but just to be clear, I'm still High King. Anyway, Brian was incredibly smart; he loved math and logic. He also was gifted with a sword. He's the exact opposite of his twin sister, Ariane. She was pretty in a simple way, like Lu. Lucy and she were becoming very good friends. Ariane had blonde hair and soft, cow-like brown eyes. She hated violence. She was very gentle, more even than how Susan used to be. And, she had an incredible gift for healing. She may be the only one on this ship that wouldn't faint or vomit if someone was to come here with their muscles torn inside out. In fact, she would probably try to help them. She was also the only one who didn't find Eustace annoying. Long story short, that girl was a miracle. Alberta is their mom. Alberta was as kind as Adriane and almost as helpful. She was the official doctor on the ship, her daughter being her assistant. Alberta looked a lot like Ariane, too. She had the same eyes and from what I was told, her hair used to be blonde. Now, with age, it's white. Alberta married Drinian, and that's how she ended up in the ship. Brian resembles his father. They are both calculating and distant. They have the same eyes as well.

Brian and I had been trying to make maps as we went along the islands and try to say where we should land next. The goal of the expedition was to find the seven Lords of Telemar. They were Caspian's father's closest friends and advisors. In the time when his uncle Miraz ruled Narnia, they were sent to the Lost Islands so they could die and leave Miraz alone. However, Caspian still believes they are out there somewhere. Some of them dead, some of them alive. We had found one of them so far, Lord Bern. An hour later, we were finished with the map, so I went to my room to think. This was my favourite time of the day, when I got to think. Today, however, was plagued by bad thoughts. I thought of how we had to leave Narnia to the mercy of the Telemarines and how badly I acted when we got back. I was jealous and protective. I expected that when we got there, we would be greeted with parties and celebrations, instead, we found an upstart prince who barely knew what he was doing, and to top it all off, he wanted my sister! There had always been problems with men wanting Susan, in fact, she almost stared an uprising. This happened in the late years of our rule, when she was twenty. We were traveling to a council in Calormen. When we got to the King, who was about thirty, he demanded I hand her over. Then, she started fighting about that it was her choice and she was not mine and she was her own and she didn't want him. Naturally, the King got very angry and almost captured her, but luckily, we got away in time. The kingdom and its King wanted her so much, they hung a painting of her in the castle! Once in a while, they'd send troops to attack Narnia, but they never stood a chance. Anyway, when I saw Caspian staring at her I got very angry. I thought he only wanted her for her face. Needless to say she fell in love with him too. He was very handsome, it's true, but I thought she was better than that. I almost got angry at her too, but I don't like getting angry at her and it wasn't her fault he was charming. However, when we left for the second time I heard her crying through the wall that separated our chambers for an hour before we left. So I went to talk to Caspian. I was about to knock on the door to his chambers when I heard a soft whimpering inside. I realized he was crying, too. I knew I had been wrong about him, unfortunately, it was too late. Now, when I came here for the third time, and saw what a good job Caspian had done, I realized I wasn't needed anymore. My worst fear to date is that Aslan would show up and say "You have failed me Peter, you are no longer deserving of the crown." And with that I'd find myself in my bed in England. I honestly think I deserve that. And besides, it's not like  
I'm needed. Caspian has proved he can rule just fine on his own. And with the years, he would marry Susan, who would only make it easier for him. Lucy is Aslan's favourite, even if he won't say it, so maybe she could stay. Edmund would probably be sent back with me. I thought about that, what I would do if I was sent back. I would probably have a breakdown similar to Susan's, I mean, you try growing up, perfectly ruling a kingdom, being taken away, only to come back and have it rubbed in your face that you are not welcome anymore. If Lucy had never discovered Narnia, I probably would have had a sad and boring life, full of crushing responsibility. I have good grades, almost as high as Susan's, clearly enough to go to a University.

I think about this fear almost every day, it's almost consuming. The logical side of me knows this will probably never happen, but, who knows?

I'm still deep in thought when I hear a few shouts coming from the deck. It sounds like Eustace _. I better go check it out_. On my way out, I almost bumped into Caspian and Susan, who were rushing out of his room as well. I'll ask them what they were doing later, probably just catching up, but still. Eustace was apparently fighting with Reepicheep, who was just teasing him and urging him to keep going. Everyone was laughing at him, but then, Reep fell off the ship. Or so we thought. The next second he was slashing away again, giving Eustace a good scare in the process. Then, Eustace fell backwards onto a sack of potatoes.

"Ahh!" we heard a girl shriek.

"Gael?" the man that had approached us on the island apparently recognized her. By the looks of it, he was her father. Drinian walked up to her and gave her an orange, which she accepted. Then, she was led inside by Lucy.

A few minutes later, we heard:

"Land Ho!" Finally, I was getting tired of the ship.

We got off to a shoreline that I recognized.

"No, no, no. Please, let's go back to the ship." Susan said.

Because, like me, she recognized this too. We were in Calormen.


	8. Chapter 8

Susan

I had just finished changing when we spotted land. The ship quickly docked in the port. I looked around at a huge city. Unfortunately, I knew exactly where we were. We had docked in Calormen.

"No, no, no. Please, let's go back to the ship." I begged to Caspian.

"The ship's crew would not be happy if we go back, they want land." Caspian responded, hurt and pity reflected upon his face.

I had almost started a war here; the King wanted me as his Queen. I got very angry, telling him it was not his choice; who I marry. Peter got the angriest, though. He said that would never happen because, indeed, I am my own queen. The king then tried to capture me. He almost got me. In fact, he almost poisoned Lucy, which is why I hate this place more than anywhere else. On the first day we got here to trade, we went to the King's palace. Once he looked at me he demanded I was handed over. When we denied, he sent his guards upon us. There was a small fight which we won, but they managed to kidnap me in the process. The rest of the week, my siblings spent trying to get me back and I spent getting ready for my wedding. Finally, on the day of the wedding, my siblings rescued me by disguising themselves as lords. They were secretly found out so the King tried to sneak some poison into Lucy's beverage. Peter took it away from her in time, though. Then, they started to fight and small battles between Narnia and Calormen have been going on ever since. Rumour has it, they still have a portrait of me in the castle.

However, there is logical explanation to why I shouldn't fear the place. It happened 1300 years ago, they most certainly can't remember.

"We should go shopping!" Devon exclaimed.

"That's silly, Devon-" Edmund started.

"No, actually, the crew is sick of the water and they have too many old and smelly clothes, we should go shopping." Drinian stated.

So we went to the plaza where all the shops were.

"I say, we split up to go look for clothes and shoes, and if anything bad happens, we all come back here." Peter said.

"Good idea." Edmund agreed. I nodded.

Then, I took Lucy and Gael's hands and told Ariane to follow us.

"You weren't thinking of going without me, were you?" Devon asked. There were a few words that expressed how much I wanted her to come: _over my dead body._

"Actually, that is precisely what I was thinking." I turned on my heels and ushered the girls into a store. Devon just stood there, speechless, I doubt she had ever been turned down before. The boys and the rest of the crew were snickering behind us. I smiled, myself.

In the store were some beautiful dresses, which were, obviously, incredibly expensive. Luckily, I am a queen and therefore am incredibly rich. I treated my friends to the dresses and got one for myself.

Ariane's dress was a golden colour and it looked like it was made from gold. It looked great in contrast with her eyes and matched her hair. She looked bright like the Sun, shining, and bright. It was low to the ground and didn't have anything underneath, which I thought a little strange because all the dresses I've worn have a hard skirt underneath to help with the shape. This one moved freely with the wind and when it was still, it was not poofing up at all, but was pressed against her legs.

Lucy's dress was a lot simpler. It was a soft orange, like the sunset. It had beautiful white and green flowers in no set pattern. When she showed it to us, I could see out of the window of the store to see people staring. There was a particular boy about my age standing in front of a bakery, smiling to a girl with a braid, saying something like: "That kind of orange." While pointing at Lu. Then there was a boy, maybe a few years younger, who was staring at her in admiration, I gave him the death stare and he moved along. There were a few girls as well who looked at her, probably jealous.

Gael's dress was pink and soft. But it was lot less comfortable than Ariane's. It had a few bows on it and so far, it was the most expensive. The skirt was very big, but it favoured her. I doubt she had ever seen anything like it.

My dress, my dress was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen, and that is saying a lot. It was the exact colour of my eyes. It had some silver threads running through it that glistened in the sunlight, creating beautiful shapes. The skirt was not too big, but it had volume. The sleeves stopped midway through my arm, laced with white at the ends and the skirt dropped to my feet. The passer-by stopped and looked through the window when I came out of the fitting space. Some of them were pointing and whispering. Quite a few boys stopped by the window to look. There were a few girls about my age, looking at me with angry and obviously jealous faces. All I did was smile and I couldn't help but notice a few of them were different from the rest.

There was the girl with the side braid I had seen before, a pretty girl with golden eyes and dark skin who was riding a beautiful horse, a boy with blonde hair and cold blue eyes, and a very handsome young man with green eyes and his arm around a petite lady who had something small and white in his hand. He winked at me.

When we walked out of the store, the looks only grew. A very little girl who may have been four years old came up to us and said that we should be princesses. Then we found the boys and Devon. They all looked shocked. Mostly Caspian. Devon gasped in admiration but then covered it saying:

"Urgh, out of all the dresses in the store, you picked those?" Not even her comments could get to me, I felt like the most beautiful person on Earth by the way Caspian was looking at me.

Then trumpets were heard. All the people in the square ran to a stage I hadn't noticed before where a young king was standing. They were all clapping, and to mix in I clapped too. Then he looked at us. When he finished his speech, he said we were invited to a feast in the castle. Peter tried to decline but at that he just got offended, so we followed him in.

The castle was grand and beautiful yet a bit sinister at the same time. It was quite similar to how I remembered it: I hated it.

We were led through long corridors to the royal throne room. On the middle throne that was made entirely of gold sat the young king. I gasped in recognition, he wasn't the same as the king last time, but you could see they were related. And on the far wall, there was something I hadn't believed to be true, something that caused my cheeks to go pale. It was a life-size replica of me.


	9. Chapter 9

Caspian

We had just arrived in the island when the Pevensie's cheeks grew pale, especially Susan's. I was getting a bit worried when she said:

"No, no, no. Please, let's go back to the ship!" It pained me to see her like that but once more; I had to do what the people wanted. And the people wanted to stay.

"The ship's crew would not be happy if we go back, they want land." I responded.

"We should go shopping!" Devon exclaimed.

"That's silly, Devon-" Edmund started.

"No, actually, the crew is sick of the water and they have too many old and smelly clothes, we should go shopping." Drinian stated, a claim I agreed to.

So we went to the plaza where all the shops were.

"I say we split up to go look for clothes and shoes, and if anything bad happens, we all come back here." Peter said.

"Good idea." Edmund agreed. Susan just nodded.

Then, she took Lucy and Gael's hands and told Ariane to follow them.

"You weren't thinking of going without me, were you?" Devon asked her. I think that was the intention.

"Actually, that is precisely what I was thinking." And so she turned on her heels and walked into a store. Devon just stood there, her face pale then red then back to normal. It took all my energy to keep from laughing.

"Well I should get shopping." She said. "Can I borrow someone's money? I don't have any." She said, batting her eyelashes. Immediately, most sailors dug in their pockets and gave her money.

"We should go too." Edmund said. I nodded in agreement. We quickly got into a shop, as far away from Devon as possible. We didn't really care about our clothes, so we just bought the most comfortable and got out. Once we returned to the plaza, we saw a commotion in front of a store so we decided to go check it out. It was the girls.

Ariane looked like molten gold in her new dress, she looked absolutely bright like the Sun. Lucy looked very pretty, too. Her dress was a soft orange and looked a lot more comfortable than Ariane's. Gael was wearing a very princess-like pink dress with a big skirt. And behind her…

Susan looked so beautiful I had to blink a few times and I was still surprised. She was the most wonderful-looking person I had ever seen. Her dress was the exact colour of her eyes and this made them stand out like sapphires. She smiled when she saw me and I thought she couldn't look better than with that smile. She was proud, I could tell. I really couldn't blame the crowd.

"Caspian, what do you think?" Devon asked excitedly when she came, not having seen Susan. "Caspian!" I still wouldn't look at her. She turned and saw her and she gasped, but then she masked it by telling us how horrid the dresses were. I'd yell at her, but I was still too mesmerized by Susan to get angry. When she finally got here, she was still smiling.

"How do I look?" She asked. I was about to answer when trumpets sounded. Apparently, the King was there and was about to give a speech. I didn't listen to one word, still thinking about the way Susan was looking at me. _Trying to impress me, no one else._ She hadn't cared about all the girl's jealous glances or the boy's flirtatious looks. And the way she was smiling so brightly. I decided I would paint another portrait of her when we got back. When the speech was over, the King came to us in person and told us to come to the royal feast. He was eyeing Susan like she was a toy and it was all I could do to restrain myself from running him through with my sword. Peter tried to decline but he insisted, obviously annoyed. I took Susan's hand to show that she was not alone and he glared at me. I didn't attack him for Susan's sake. When he finally left I was glad.

"Now that that is over, do you like my new dress?" Devon tried again _. No_. It's a bright pink and so big and low, I wanted to vomit.

"Yes, it favours you." And she took my free hand. _Don't touch me,_ I wanted to say. I hated Devon. She got under my skin, and she hurt Susan. Devon thought she was the best thing that ever happened to me. She is weak and whiny. She screams at the smallest thing. She likes jumping into my arms while faking a foot injury. I swear, one day I'm going to lose control and throw her overboard. Meanwhile, Susan is so gentle, but she is ready for battle at a moment's notice. She doesn't scream unless there is inevitable danger, like when we were going to be sold in Narrowheaven. And, sometimes she holds my hand or touches my shoulder and sometimes even kisses me, but I love it when she does that. Devon makes me feel uncomfortable; there is something about her that unsettles me. Susan makes me feel like maybe I am a good king, a great one. She pushes me to make my own decisions and is the best friend I could ask for. Not to mention I love her family. Lucy is the nicest person I have ever met and she is always so enthusiastic. Edmund is serious and always knows what to do. He is very controlled and calm, but he is like a brother to me. Peter understands me. He doesn't see his parents much and he was the High King at my age. He had to put his personal traumas to the side for his people, which I'm all too familiar with. I don't know anything about Devon and I don't believe her story about being an Amazon and Veela. She might pass for a Veela for her hair, but Veelas are kind, even if seductive, to everyone. As for an Amazon, she can use a bow, but the girl has never been in battle or battle training, I can tell. Susan is a warrior queen who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Devon wouldn't last a day in a fight, besides, it's not like Susan can't handle a bow. Susan is the best archer in history. She can shoot anything. And, I hate Devon; meanwhile I love Susan with all my heart. I don't understand how Devon doesn't know. It was love at first sight with Susan. I remember the day we met, Peter was about to kill me when she yelled at him to stop. Then I looked at her, I will never forget how she looked at me too. From then on, I tried my hardest to impress her. I even tried archery, but I missed with the bow and she had to help me. In fact, we later had a contest, her with a bow and me with a crossbow. Needless to say she won.

We finally got to the castle, where the banquet was to be held. When we got to the throne room, I looked at Susan and noticed she had turned pale. I followed her gaze, unprepared for what I saw next. It was a portrait of her, looking beautiful as always, but she was a bit older, in her early twenties, maybe. I felt anger boiling up inside me, my face growing red, and I was about to yell and go rip the King's throat out when Susan put her hand on my shoulder, shaking her head. I could see a lone tear escaping her eye and I hugged her, holding her close. The other Pevensies had also gone pale, except for Peter, who looked almost as angry as I did. The King saw her, then the portrait, and realized.

"Seize her!" I moved in front of her and took my sword out to protect her.

"No one touches her!" I yelled, and Peter charged.

"For Narnia!" this was a bloody battle, but the innocent had already escaped and there were no casualties on our side. I just stood in front of Susan, killing anyone who came close. When the battle was over, it was only Peter and the King.

"Why do you want her?" he asked.

"Well, because my kingdom has wanted her for centuries and I need a queen. Besides, it's not her choice." Uh oh, I think Susan was about to lose it. I was right.

"It is more my choice than any of yours combined, you hear?!" she yelled, and she kicked him, hard. The king only smiled and shook his head. I ran my sword straight through him.


	10. Chapter 10

Lucy

That place brought back bad memories. I almost died in Calormen; in fact, I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Peter. It had been one of the most terrifying weeks of my life. They had my sister, and they were going to force her to get married. And, worst of all, it was entirely my fault. If I had been paying attention, they wouldn't have captured her. I was supposed to cover her, but someone clasped his hands on her mouth and took her from behind without me noticing. Peter and Edmund yelled at me for hours, and all that time I spent crying. That's when they figured out this wouldn't do any good if we just kept yelling. We needed to form a plan. So we infiltrated to castle in costume and joined the feast. Unfortunately, they had recognized us, but instead of attacking us, they slipped poison onto my drink. I was incredibly thirsty and was about to drink when Peter slapped it out of my hand. That's when the fight started. We eventually got her back, but I still have nightmares about that day.

Today was actually a lot of fun. We bought nice dresses. I loved mine; I chose it because it reminded me of the one I wore when we left Narnia for the second time and the hope I felt, of seeing Narnia again. I felt so beautiful, everybody was staring, even the boys. Then Susan came out. It crushed me because she looked marvellous, more beautiful than I could ever be. I wasn't mad at her, which would be awful because she can't control what she looks like. Instead I was happy she was attracting more boys.

"You look absolutely beautiful, Lu." She said. I smiled, remembering that, maybe I was beautiful too. When we got out of the store, everybody was looking at us. A few boys even asked me my name. A nice-looking one with pure green eyes and messy black hair and round spectacles. A blonde one with blue eyes who seemed really strong and serious. The last boy that caught my eye had brown hair, only a bit shorter than Caspian's, and had kind brown eyes and good build.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Lucy." I responded, and then he was shuffled out of my view by the crowd. I decided I liked him best.

Peter and the rest came into view and they all looked shocked. Caspian looked like he was falling in love with Susan all over again. She looked like she wanted to cry. I imagined this was exactly what they were going to look like in their wedding. She was smiling wider than I had ever seen her smile, and I was happy for them. But then, I felt something in my heart. I realized I wanted someone to love. I wanted someone who would think I looked beautiful even when I didn't and would look at me that way when I did. I wanted someone who would love me no matter what, and when I was feeling hurt, I could tell him and he would help me. _This is foolish_ , I thought. So I returned to being happy for them.

"How do I look?" Susan asked. Caspian was about to answer when trumpets sounded, signalling it was time for a speech. It was by the King, and after having seen us, he personally asked us to go to a feast in his castle. I wanted to vomit, I also nearly fainted, but Ed caught me in time. I was too disoriented to hear the rest, so we went to the castle.

It was almost like I remembered it, which only made the dizziness worse. I knew I shouldn't be complaining, it was Susan who was captured after all, but I couldn't help myself. I looked over at her and noticed that she was paler than snow and had the death grip on Caspian's hand. When I noticed what she was looking at, I almost passed out again. It was the legendary painting. Caspian and Peter looked like they were going to explode. The King apparently noticed that she was indeed Susan, or was at least related.

"Seize her!" He ordered. Caspian instinctively protected Susan while Peter yelled our battle cry and the battle started.

I fought as hard as I could, yet only badly injuring people, but Edmund always came around to finish the job. Everyone on the King's side died and then it was only him, bent over on the ground, wounded by Peter.

"Why do you want her?" And the little rat responded by telling us that he needs a queen, but then he added that it wasn't Susan's choice and she snapped.

"It is more my choice than any of you combined, you hear?!" She yelled. Then, she did something that surprised me, she kicked him really hard. I could see it hurt him, but he hid it with a sly smile that made my blood boil. He shook his head and crumpled to the ground, I turned to see that Caspian had killed the King. At this I gave in and fainted.

When I woke up, we were back on the ship. Ed was by my side, holding my hand.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"You fainted, luckily, I caught you in time."

"Did Caspian really…? You know…." He nodded.

"Pirates!" I heard people yelling from the deck and stood up immediately, running to help. Ed was already running.

There were tons of pirates, big and ugly. All of them were fighting against our crew. Caspian was fighting three at a time, Peter was fighting with the captain, Susan was shooting them down, Brian was fighting one of them, Ariane was helping our wounded, and Edmund started to help Caspian. Then I thought of someone I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about: _Gael_. I immediately ran for her and when I found her, I took her below deck. Then I came back outside and resumed fighting with my knife. As soon as I killed one, more took his place, trying to bring me down. Luckily, Susan was helping me by shooting if I couldn't fight.

"Susan!" Caspian yelled. He threw her to the ground just before she could be run through with the sword of a pirate standing behind her. Then, he killed him and helped her up.

Edmund was doing alright. He managed to kill his attackers without getting hurt. Brian was doing just fine, too.

Peter wasn't doing great. I could see that he was tired and he had a wound on his leg that didn't allow him to walk properly. Edmund came to the rescue. He killed the captain from behind and got Peter to Ariane. The pirates retreated onto their boat at the defeat of the captain. Everyone was cheering and was happy. Caspian kissed Susan and, once more, I felt jealous.

I thought back to the boy with the kind brown eyes that had asked for my name.

 _Please, Aslan. If you can hear me, send me someone to love._


	11. Chapter 11

Jack

I hate my life. Ever since my dad died my uncle has been in charge of the ship and he's treated me like rotten fish. He makes me do all the dirty work like clean the waste area and gut all the fish. He treats the other pirates like decayed rope as well, but they don't mind so much. I try to be a better pirate and please him so he lets me do the hard jobs but he is hard to please. I never liked being a pirate anyway. Killing people to get gold is not really something that makes me happy about myself.

My name is John, by the way, but everyone calls me Jack.

My father wasn't the best man in the world, but he would be kind and patient with me. I wish I had gotten to know him better, but he died when I was five. Everybody says he fell overboard, but I don't think so. I think my uncle killed him. He had always wanted to be captain and had never liked his brother much, anyway.

I never met my mother. She died when I was born. Father said she was wonderful. I wish I had gotten to meet her too.

Anyway, I hate life on this ship. It's dull and boring. Sometimes we go hungry because we haven't seen any ships. That's when the pirates force me to starve so they can eat. I would give anything to leave. In fact, I promised myself the next time I have a chance to escape undetected, I would. I can't escape in a city or town because if they found out they would go to the lord. Secretly, though I don't think my uncle likes me, the other pirates are alright.

"Land Ho!" I quickly scrambled to get off the ship to get a good look at the town.

It was a huge city, with a castle looming over it on a hill in the middle. I could see a plaza with many shops. The plaza was full of people buying things. I wished I had enough money to get what I want: a beautiful iron sword with a curved blade and a smooth gold grip.

Then I decided I was going to commit my first crime alone. Maybe this would even please my uncle. The only problem was, there were many guards walking around and two people that worked in the store where it was being sold. I needed a distraction.

I entered the store to see if I could come up with a plan. I spent about five minutes in there and nothing came to me, but then I saw a huge crowd gathered around something. Sadly, the workers here didn't think it was important, so I thought: _Might as well go._

I wasn't really prepared for what I saw. I was expecting something bad, but when I finally got to see, I had lost my ability to speak. I saw the four most beautiful girls I had seen in my entire life. They were wearing beautiful and expensive dresses, and held themselves in a way they looked like royalty. One of them, the littlest, was about ten and was clearly feeling like the luckiest person alive. She didn't act much like royalty, but she was probably just friends with the others. The second youngest one, probably around twelve, was the one that caught my eye. She was my age, and had soft orange hair, freckles, and an orange dress. This one was definitely a princess. She was holding hands with a blonde girl wearing a golden dress, who looked like a princess, but they were certainly not sisters. She didn't carry herself like her friend, though, so I decided she was probably not royalty. The last one, about 17, was not a princess. She was a queen. She carried herself with more pride than the princess, who I deduced was her sister. They were all extremely beautiful, but the small one was too childish, the blonde was too quiet, and the Queen was too serious. I decided I liked Princess best.

"What's your name?" I asked Princess.

"Lucy." She answered. _Lucy_ , I thought, _it suits her_. A minute later, trumpets sounded. Everybody, even the people in the stores, were going to a stage in the middle of the square. _This is my chance_.

I quickly ran into the store, careful not to be seen. I checked to see if the coast was clear, the grabbed the sword and dashed out. I went directly to the ship so I wouldn't get caught. There, some of the pirates told me that my uncle had gone to call the pirates back to the ship.

"Hey, where did you get that?"

"I stole it."

"How much was it?"

"'Bout a thousand gold coins."

"Well done, kid!" I just nodded and headed below deck to wait for the Captain. He could probably take a couple of hours. I was right; he came with the other pirates a few hours later. There was talk on the deck about something that happened with the King. I think someone killed him. There was also rumour that a bunch of kings and queens were on a ship nearby. Soon enough we were called to the deck to hear the plan. They must be rich, being royalty, and they would most likely be defenceless. So we were going to steal from them. I was meant to stay on the ship, as always.

"I see it captain!" Someone yelled and pointed to a galleon not far away. Soon enough, the other ship had noticed and taken out their weapons. It was a battle between the pirates and the kings. And then I spotted something that made my heart stop. A young girl with her hair in a ponytail was slashing away at my crewmates, killing everyone that came near her with a knife. She was fierce and brave. She was beautiful. It actually looked like the royals were putting up a good fight. But then, my heart stopped again as I watched someone killing the captain of the ship. My uncle was dead.

I had once decided I didn't like being a pirate and now, here was the opportunity to leave. So I took my sword and jumped on their ship. I quickly got below deck and hid under the bed in a magnificent room. When the fight was over, I scrambled to get out, determined to find the captain of this ship. I was walking, my mind in how I would explain the situation, when I bumped into someone. That someone put his sword to my throat.

"Caspian, there is a pirate on the ship, still. Should I kill him?" A young man with blonde hair asked.

"No, he's just a boy, I want him to explain."

"He's armed." The blonde said. I dropped my sword to prove that I came in peace.

"Now he's not. Follow me, please." Said a young man with a hint of an old Telemarine accent. He took me to one of the rooms, and sat down on the bed.

"I'm King Caspian, the Tenth." And he shook my hand, he seemed nice enough, he treated me as an equal.

"High King Peter, the Magnificent."

"High King Peter, as in…?" I thought back to the legends of a group of kings and queens from some kingdom that had apparently disappeared then came back.

"Yes." He cut me off. "But now it's time for your story." He seemed a lot more suspicious than King Caspian.

I told them about my life, how my parents died, how my uncle mistreated me, even how I came partly because of the girl. King Caspian looked at me with deep pity, but Peter didn't soften.

"He's a pirate. We need to get rid of him." He said. "He's trouble."

"He's like me." King Caspian responded. At this, Peter softened.

"Right." The door opened and what I saw next made my heart stop for the third time today.

 _Lucy_.


	12. Chapter 12

Peter

The battle was finally over. At the sight of their dead captain, the pirates had left the ship. My leg still burned like it was on fire, but I didn't make a big deal out of it. Ariane told me to go to my room; she'd be waiting for me there. On the way there, I bumped into someone. He was a young boy with brown hair, he looked very familiar, but I was sure I'd never met him. I realized he was a pirate so I put my sword to his throat. I wanted to kill him, he was probably just waiting for an opportunity to kill us all, but I felt the need to ask Caspian first, who had been walking behind me.

"Caspian, there is a pirate on the ship, still. Should I kill him?" I asked.

"No, he's just a boy, I want him to explain." He said. I suppose he's still new at being King, so he doesn't understand that a brainwashed kid was just as dangerous as the next adult. Besides, at his age, I could do wicked things with a sword.

"He's armed." I pointed out. What he did next surprised me. He put his sword down.

"Now he's not. Follow me, please." He said to him. We both followed him into Caspian's room. Then, he told us his story. It was probably all a big lie and he was just trying to spy on us and then communicate it to other pirates.

"He's a pirate. We need to get rid of him. He's trouble."

"He's like me." The realization hit me. They were both misunderstood orphans with a big heart.

"Right"

The boy had reminded me of Caspian. They even looked similar. I understood why Caspian had shown him sympathy. But I don't know if I should. They story could still be a lie, but before I could say anything, Lucy came into the room. The boy, whose name was Jack, looked shocked. Lucy blushed. I realized she was the pretty girl he's seen. I'll be keeping an eye on him.

"Pete, Ariane wants to see you." And with that she left the room. It's true, my leg is still bleeding, I had forgotten about that. I went back to my room and let Caspian talk to Jack. Ariane first tried to clean my leg, it was still full of blood, but the major bleeding had stopped. Then, she put on the disinfectant. I winced because it stung quite a bit. Finally, she put on the bandages.

"Don't walk much if you can help it and it will heal more quickly. It was not a very deep cut."

"Alright." A few weeks passed and my leg had fully healed, but once more, the crew was inpatient. If we didn't find land soon…

"Land ho!" I heard. _Thank Aslan._

I went to the deck to see what the island looked like. Its appearance confused me. It looked like a forest of a sort, except the trees were a lot taller and more uneven and there were vines hanging from them. When we got there, we found it was a lot more humid and hot than a forest. Devon had stayed on the ship because she was "sick". Then something whizzed past my ear.

Susan was the first to react. She quickly notched an arrow on her bow and got prepared to shoot. Then I realized what had happened. Someone had shot me from the trees. "Who's there?"

"We come in peace." Caspian said. The trees rustled and suddenly, there was a woman standing in front of us. She had strong brown eyes and straight brown hair in a braid. She was beautiful in a fierce way. I could tell she was in charge by the way she talked.

"I am Selene, Queen of the Amazons." She said. "If you can pass my tasks I'll let you leave this island unharmed, if not, you will face certain death. You must choose a representative for each challenge." _Well she's straight-forward_. We could tell her who we were, but I remembered a deal we made in our Golden Age with the Amazons: they had their own little kingdom if they left us alone.

"What are the tasks you speak of?" Susan asked. These two may have been friends under different circumstances, I realized.

"Well, there is a sword-fighting, a knife-throwing, a crossbow tournament, a wrestling match, and, most importantly, an archery contest." Susan smiled; she could beat anyone out there.

"Choose your representatives."

"I'm at the sword challenge, Caspian is at the crossbow, Lucy is at the knives, and Susan is at the archery challenge. I suppose Edmund will wrestle." I said.

"Very well. Susan is up against our best archer, Diane, Caspian will battle Bellona, Edmund, you're with Claire, and Lucy will up against Hylla. You're with me."

I had to go first, and against the Queen.

"First one to disarm the other wins. Let the games begin!" And with that, she started slashing away at me.

She was very good; the fight kept going for hours. I was starting to get really tired. I know she probably was too, but she did a fantastic job hiding it. I had cuts on my cheek, arm, and leg. She had one on her cheek and knee. The fight kept going for a few more minutes, until finally…

She won.

She was the first person to ever beat me in a sword fight. I was extremely disappointed in myself; I had just lost a point to my team.

"Good game, you fought well." She said and shook my hand. It was Caspian's turn. He shot three times, all of them in the bulls-eye. The Amazon that was up against him, Bellona, hit them all in the bulls-eye, too, so they had a rematch. Caspian won that round. It was Edmund's turn.

The Amazon that he had to wrestle was twice as large as he was. We all knew he would lose. Surprisingly, he put up a good fight. It took ten minutes for Claire to get him down long enough to win.

It took Lucy five rematches, but she finally won. Now it was up to Susan. She needed to get all three arrows in the bulls-eye to win. Usually simple, but I could see she was nervous.

Susan took her arrow and landed it in the centre. At lightning speed, she shot her other arrows, splitting up the previous.

We won.

We raced to congratulate Susan. She had hit her arrows in the exact same spot. We were all very proud, and happy that we weren't going to die.

"May I talk to you?" Selene said to Susan. Susan nodded and followed her. They came back an hour later, Su smiling.

"I have an announcement to make." Selene said, lifting her hands. All the Amazons listened to her. "I will be leaving on the Dawn Treader in order to aid our guests in their noble quest. I will leave in charge, Hylla." No one protested when she got on the ship. In fact, she became best friends with Su in the week that followed. Eight days after we left the Amazons, we came across a strange island full of mountains and caves. We decided to send a scouting party to explore: Susan, Caspian, Devon, Eustace, Selene, Jack, Edmund, and I. We had been walking for over a day now, we were all extremely tired. I was practically carrying Eustace, Caspian took turns carrying Susan and Lucy, and Selene was walking on, not a bead of sweat on her face. I had to admire her, we were all tired and grouchy and she was just walking like it was nothing, barely opening her mouth. Devon was complaining loudly to Caspian, who looked like he was going to faint, but held on for the girls' sake. Then I noticed a cave different from the rest, I told everyone to get inside so we could investigate. Inside, it looked like nothing special was going on, so I just decided to rest. Then Devon leaned back against a huge rock and disappeared completely. Everyone followed immediately. I went through and I knew two things:

One: This isn't England. Two: This isn't Narnia.


	13. Chapter 13

Selene

My story begins like this: I was born a princess, Princess Selena of Archenland. My mother died when I was born. My maids pushed me to become a selfless woman that would someday become a perfect queen behind a powerful king. However, my older brother and only friend, John was raised to become Father's successor. John, or Jo, as I liked to call him, was the only person who knew how much I hated being a princess. I envied the town girls that were free to do what they wanted. I was forced to become friends with the other royal ladies my age and had to go to balls and wear heavy gowns that didn't allow me to move.

Jo understood; he didn't want the pressure that was being put on him to become king. He was my best friend. I really couldn't ask for a better brother. We made a deal: I introduced him to the ladies I was "friends" with and he taught me how to hunt.

I lived for the two hours a day when I was allowed a rest. That's when I would hunt with Jo. My favourite weapon was the sword and I was even better than my brother.

Over the years, Jo grew to be a fine young man who everyone knew would become a wonderful king. At fifteen, I had dozens of men from the other islands begging for my hand. I let them all down, obviously. Jo, who had turned nineteen that year, was already engaged to a girl named Catherine. I didn't like her as much as he did but if I had to choose someone to marry him, I'd choose her.

My maids still pressured me to become a polite (and weak in my opinion). They were very angry every time they saw my muscles and hard hands. They started giving me less food so I could lose weight and gave me more oils at bath time and tighter corsets. I still ate during the night when everyone was asleep and I kept hunting and loosening my corset when I couldn't breathe. They would put my hair up in complicated hairstyles I despised, which I later undid and put in a messy braid down my side. At that time, my father started to look over my suitors to decide which one would benefit the country most.

He found one when I turned seventeen. In the feast for my birthday, he introduced me to him and got us to sit together. His name was Wulfrick. He would soon become King of Galma, one of the Lone Islands.

"Shall we go take a walk, my lady?" He asked, though it wasn't really a question.

"Of course."

We walked for hours and the only thing he did was talk about himself and his grand kingdom.

When we got back to the banquet hall, he looked at Father and nodded. Father nodded in return. I got a very bad feeling as Father stood up and cleared his throat.

"I demand your attention. This day, we celebrate the birth of my daughter, Princess Selena the Fifth. Now, not only to add to the excitement of the celebration, I am glad to announce the marriage of the Princess with Prince Wulfrick the First of Galma!"

Cheers went up from everyone, but I didn't hear any of them. Black spots danced in front of my eyes and I started to lose my balance. Then, I felt a familiar hand pulling me out of my daze. I followed my brother as he ushered me along the halls and out of the castle. We stopped running at the dock, where a ship was waiting for us.

"No time to explain, they will take you somewhere safe with a forest and lots of room to run where you'll be happy. Trust them. I love you, Selene. Be brave."

And with that he ran away before I could tell him anything else. I was in such shock I didn't notice the hands pulling me on the ship. It was becoming dark and as soon as I got on the crew pushed me below deck. One of them told me to sleep and that they'd tell me everything in the morning. I was indeed very tired from the party but I couldn't sleep. I kept replaying Jo's last words in my head.

 _No time to explain_. This must be dangerous, then.

 _They will take you to a safe place_. Where? Why couldn't he come?

 _Be brave_. I will be brave. I will not let him down.

When I rose in the morning I was confused by why I wasn't in my room, then I remembered last night's events. I rushed upstairs and approached the first person I saw. My first instinct was not to trust him; all the men I've known (except Jo) have been arrogant and untrustworthy. Then I recalled what Jo told me: Trust them. The man explained that Jo had known how unhappy I was, especially after the marriage, and he risked himself to change it. Jo knew that was my greatest fear: to be married. He told some of his friends to take me to Terebinthia, an island far from Archenland, where I could be free. I would never be able thank him enough. He of course, had to stay. He had a kingdom to rule and a future wife to take care of.

Weeks passed, and soon, we were close to Terebinthia. We were about a day away when a huge storm came. The strong winds blew us off-course. I looked up at the night sky before I was whisked away into my cabin. I saw a constellation different from any others I'd seen. It looked like the face of a great lion.

I dreamt of a huge lion that filled me with warmth and security. Even in a dream, I was surprised when the lion started talking.

"Princess Selena the Fifth of Archenland, your journey this time will be short, but you have a hardship ahead of you. If you manage to survive, you will live happily. There will come a time when you will have to leave your land. You will meet friends along the way and although there will be more hardships ahead, you will find peace one day. Good bye, Strong One." He said.

I woke up hitting the floor. I must have fallen off the bed because of the storm. I went on deck in time to see the man steering the ship fall overboard. Without hesitation, I ran to the steering wheel. Some of the men tried to push me off, but I resisted. I made a sharp turn and saw a little island. I did my best to take the ship there, though it was falling apart. A huge piece of timber fell on my leg. I screamed in pain but kept going. _Be brave_. When we were close to the island, the ship finally sunk. I jumped off just in time, but everyone else drowned. My injured leg kept me from swimming and I thought it was over and was about to give up when I remembered Jo's words again. _Be brave_.

So I used all my energy to swim to the island. When I arrived my body was numb, and I finally gave in to the coldness.

I lay in the sand, unconscious, for hours. When I finally woke up, I thought I was dreaming. I was in a forest with tall trees and plenty of room to hunt that was full of wildlife. I noticed I was surrounded by a group of women my age. One of them stood closer to me. She was clearly their leader. She was Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons. The Amazons welcomed me and I found myself fitting in with them. I changed my name to Selene, the nickname Jo had given me after the Greek goddess of the moon, which he said related to Artemis, goddess of the hunt. I hunted freely every day. I quickly rose to become Queen. Queen of a world I belong in. Living with the Amazons was the best thing that ever happened to me. We lived in treehouses that couldn't be seen from the ground. We woke up at dawn and went for a run. We would train with our weapons and fight with each other. We would make new recruits of girls that passed the island. The clothes that we wore were much more comfortable than the royal clothes. For each year the Amazons aged, the regular people aged five, so I'd spent ten years on the island and was only nineteen. I still missed Jo more than anything, but I promised him I'd be brave.

One day, I saw a huge royal ship docking into our island. In it, was a group of young people who claimed to be the kings and queens of Narnia, a country close to Archenland. They weren't like anyone I'd ever met. The queens were calm, but strong. The kings were not arrogant. I decided two of them were a couple and that most of them were related. I found I liked the eldest two best. So when they asked me to leave with them, I remembered: _Be brave_.


	14. Chapter 14

Edmund

"Land ho!" I heard. Lucy, Susan, Jack (or Pirate Boy, a nickname given to him by Susan), Peter, Selene, Susan, Eustace, and I decided to scout the land.

When we got to the island, we saw that it was full of mountains and caves. We walked on, hoping to find one of the lost lords, for over a day now, we were all very tired. Peter was dragging Eustace, Caspian took turns carrying Susan and Lu, and Selene was walking normally. She has to be really strong to do that. I don't like her very much, she seems too aggressive. Devon was complaining loudly to Caspian, who looked like he was going to faint, but held on for the girls' sake. Then we noticed a cave different from the rest.

"Come on, let's go inside."

Inside, it looked like nothing special was going on, so we all decided to rest. Then, Devon leaned back against a huge rock and disappeared completely. We all quickly followed, against me and Susan's pleads to figure out a plan first. I think they should try to remember that it was she that warned us not to go back to the wardrobe, but whatever.

When I crossed the rock, I didn't feel anything at all, like I hadn't just walked through solid rock. What we saw at the other side confused us all.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We are certainly not in Narnia." Peter answered.

"Is this England?" Caspian asked.

"No, England looks very different." Susan said. Indeed, there were tall structures that reached the sky and they were made of glass and sometimes polished stone. The roads, if that's what they are, were full of strange-looking cars that were even bigger than the ones in England. The streets were full of people, dressed very strangely. I looked down and saw that we were still dressed how we were before we crossed.

"If you don't mind my asking, sir, where are we?" I asked a passer-by. He just looked at me like I was a lunatic and said:

"You're in New York, of course." I didn't understand what he said for he had an incredibly strange accent.

"Come again?" Peter tried. The man just walked away muttering something about stupid kids and their pranks. Susan was the first to analyse the situation.

"We need to fit in and then try to get out of here. Something bad might happen if someone figures out where we come from." She said. "Follow me." She led us to a building that looked like a shop. It was full of clothes like the ones the people were wearing. We all tried our best to pick out an outfit and went into a "changing room". It took us a while to look decent, but when we finally did it, we figured out the next problem.

"How are we going to pay for all of these?" I asked.

"Leave that to me." Devon said and she walked over to where the cashier was and, after five minutes, came back to us.

"Done." She said, and we headed out of the store. I didn't fail to notice a strange man looking at us through the top of his newspaper.

We had been walking for a day now, and we were tired and hungry so we decided to stop and eat. We found a cheap-looking restaurant that would be perfect. Devon went to order lunch for us at Caspian's request and we all sat down, trying to figure this all out. I tried to listen to the conversation but I was too busy thinking about the strange man before that had somehow reappeared here, this time, with some friends. Maybe he followed us but, what did he want? I decided not to out much thought into it because it could be a different man, but it still intrigued me a little. Susan pulled me out of my thoughts:

"We should get some information on the city."

"I agree." Peter said. "We should go to the library." It seemed like a good idea to everyone so we headed out. We walked for a while; the city was huge. I couldn't help but pay attention to the buildings as we walked along: there was an extremely tall one that had a big spike on the top, there was a smaller building made entirely of glass that had flags of many countries across its yard, and a really big, Greek-looking building (I'm guessing it's a museum). When we finally found the library, I wasn't surprised to see it was very big.

We got inside. It had a few people, but not nearly as many as there should be in such an interesting place. I've always been a fan of libraries, along with Susan, who was now marvelling at the amount books.

Pirate Boy and I went to ask the librarian for assistance.

"Excuse me ma'am, could you please tell us where we could find a book about this interesting city?" I asked. She looked up at me like I was crazy, much like that other man before. I suppose people here are not as polite.

"Leave me alone! Can't you see I'm reading?" She said _. So rude._

"My apologies." I managed, though my temper was rising as I walked away.

We spent the rest of the evening trying to find a book that could tell us a bit about where we were.

"I found one, I found one!" Lucy yelled, a few hours later. "Come, let's show it to everyone." She said, grabbing my hand. We started to look for the rest of the group. A few minutes later, everyone was gathered around. Lucy explained to us all about the city, which, we found out was the same city Su and Peter had been studying in for over a year now, New York. Peter figured out that, either the portal has taken us to the future, or time in Narnia has passed a lot slower than in the real world. Lucy was just explaining to us about a thing called the "United Nations", when Su asked:

"Has anyone seen Selene?" I thought about it, and the answer was no, I was so used to not having her in the group that I didn't notice she was gone.

"Oh, you guys didn't notice she was missing?" Devon asked, batting her eyelashes innocently. We ran around the Library, hoping to find her. Finally, I saw her, struggling, her hands held behind her back.

I recognized the faces of her aggressors; they were being led by the same man that had been following us all day. Now that I could see their faces, and they were changed back into their original clothes, my brain clicked and I knew exactly why they seemed familiar. I was walking with one right now. Telemarines.

Caspian stepped in front of Susan protectively, but she shot him a look that said: _I don't need protection_. And he looked back at her like: _Oops, sorry forgot about that_. Lucy looked absolutely terrified, but I could tell she was trying not to let on. Pirate boy consistently looked over at her, probably to make sure she was alright. Eustace jumped into Devon's arms, who screamed and threw him on the ground. I was trying hard to make a strategy. Three to eight, the odds were in our favour, but then, we left all our weapons in the cave, and they were all armed. I looked at Peter, hoping to see in his expression if he had a plan or not, but what I saw surprised me.

Defenceless and outnumbered, Peter charged.

The Telemarines quickly caught on and charged at him. I simply couldn't believe how utterly stupid my brother was being, but I couldn't do anything about it now. We took what we could and used it against them, like we did in Narrowheaven. The fight went on for a long while, until all three Telemarines lay unconscious. Susan had untied Selene, who joined the fight, and when Selene fights, she always wins.

Suddenly, there was a blinding light, coming from the Telemarines. It filled me with warmth and security, and I instantly knew the source: Aslan.


	15. Chapter 15

Caspian

"You fought well. I know not how these Telemarines ended up here, probably they lived in the island you were in and recognized Caspian or the Kings and Queens of the Golden Age. Also, there are no Lords in the island nor in this city. Worry not, for no time has passed in Narnia, you were brought to the future by a portal in the island. I will now return you all to the island, for you were never meant to come here. Farewell." And with that, the Great Loin disappeared in a shower of golden light. And we disappeared along with it.

We found ourselves back in the cave. We basically ran to the ship.

To this day, that was one of the most confusing adventures I'd ever had, and that is saying a lot.

Once on the ship, we all resumed our usual procedures. Peter and Brian were studying, Lucy was playing with Ariane, Susan was talking to Selene I, Eustace was complaining about everything, and I was commanding the ship. Devon came to "talk" to me, although I assumed she would be flirting.

"That was quite an adventure, huh?" She asked surprisingly.

"Yes, I suppose." And the next thing I knew, she had a firm grasp on my hair and collar and she was kissing me. She is the most disrespectful witch I'd ever met. I struggled, I pushed her, I even kicked her, but she held her ground. Then, all of a sudden she was completely off of me. She was on the ground, being pinned down by none other than Susan. I couldn't believe Susan would actually wrestle someone on the ground like that; she is very gentle and soft.

"No one touches him if he doesn't want to be touched, do you understand?!" She yelled. Susan looked angrier than I'd ever seen her. Devon looked simply terrified, she nodded quickly.

"No one kisses him if he doesn't want to be kissed, do you understand?!" Again she nodded. I still couldn't believe Susan would do this for me.

"And absolutely no one forces him to do anything he doesn't want to do, do you understand?!" Devon nodded repeatedly, hoping it would end.

"Good." And with that, she got off her and went below deck. I could see the crew starting to murmur about the events.

"Can you believe her?" Devon said as she got up. I pushed her out of the way and went below deck to see Susan. I heard a soft sound coming from her room. I knocked on the door and she said:

"Leave me alone, Pete."

"My apologies, My Queen, I was merely trying to see if you were alright."

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were Peter. You may come in."

She was sitting on her bed, her eyes red and a bit puffy. She had been crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I sat down beside her.

"My life has been so complicated so far and the episode with Devon just made me snap. You see, the first time I came to Narnia, I had much trouble believing in it, then Ed betrayed us and I just felt like a terrible sister. Finally, all was well and we ruled happily, only to be taken away on a random day to come back to boring England. Peter and I didn't cry once, for the sake of the little ones. Then we were brought back here, only this time it was worse because I fell in love with you. I knew it was impossible, so I mentally beat myself to remember that we would not stay in Narnia. After we were taken from it, I cried for two weeks. Now we've been brought back again, only to be plagued by Devon and her dirty little tricks. I can only hope we stay forever this time, though."

"Well, now that you're here, you should try to enjoy yourself with me and everyone else. Ignore Devon, she is probably just jealous."

I just held Susan for what seemed like hours. She had fallen asleep and looked completely peaceful. I'm glad she trusts me. Suddenly the door opened and Edmund came in, but he saw us.

"Oh, was I interrupting something?" He said, with an unreadable look on his face. His words woke up Susan. "I think I'll go…play chess…" He said awkwardly. Some time passed after that with Susan back in my arms when Peter burst into the room.

"Caspian, Susan, you better come quick!" We hurriedly got up and ran to the deck. Peter pointed at a small mountain that seemed to have sprouted out of the water. Next to it, we saw a giant whirlpool, big enough to swallow the ship.

"I've read about them." Susan said. "Scylla and Charybdis."

"Elaborate please." Peter said.

"Scylla is a six-headed monster that will eat six sailors and you can't kill it, it's much too big. Charybdis is that whirlpool. It will swallow the ship whole and kill us all."

"Could we get to Scylla?" I asked. "It would cause casualties, but not as many as its partner."

"It's too late; we are headed straight towards Charybdis." As soon as she said that, the ship started. I ran and embraced her to keep her from falling as the ship went faster and faster. It was spinning in circles, now so fast, our surroundings were a blur. We were sucked into a cave with soft walls that were definitely not rock. A putrid odour filled our noses and made us dizzy. We were not underwater, and the ship was intact. Lucy stepped on a rock and she screamed. Then, we found out it was a human skull. The floor was slimy and was littered with old timber from ships and some skeletons.

"We're in its stomach!" Susan realized. We all looked around one more time and saw that, yes, it looked like a very big stomach. Then we heard some yelling. It sounded like commands and it was a girl's voice. It was none of the girls here.

"There must be someone else here. Let's go take a look." Edmund said. We decided to have me, Susan, Edmund, Peter, Lucy, and Selene explore. Soon enough, we came across a huge iron ship. "Hello? Anyone there? What's your captain's name?" Asked Edmund. A strong-looking girl jumped down from the deck.

"I'm Clarisse LaRue, daughter of Ares."

"Um, daughter of Ares?" Peter asked, confused.

"Well, yeah, aren't you demigods? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to sail this part of the sea."

"We're from Narnia."

"What the hell is-?"

"Clarisse!" We heard a voice shout, interrupting her question. Clarisse got the kids that had shouted on deck. She looked like she knew them. They might be- _what was that she said before? Demigods?_ Susan explained to a girl, her name was Annabeth, how we'd gotten here. Annabeth was quite smart and knew that it was possible that we'd come from another world. After she told us her wild story, we believed her, too. Her friend, Percy, Clarisse, and she were children of tee ancient Greek gods. Luckily, Susan had studied them so she knew what they were talking about. Putting that aside, we decided we needed a plan. We spent the next half an hour coming up with a plan that would get our two ships out of the monster (Percy and Annabeth's boat had been destroyed.) We agreed that Clarisse, Annabeth, and Percy should stay on the same ship, for they all had the same destination, and we should go behind them. Percy would shoot the soft walls with some sort of long-range weapon that would cause water to come in. Then Clarisse would drive the ship through the holes using the water to get out. We would follow.

Then we put the plan to work. Clarisse got on her ship, with Percy shooting at the walls and us behind them. Soon enough, we were out of the monster and on the other side of the dangerous crossing.


	16. Annabeth Short

Annabeth

 _Percy and I had been trying to reach the Sea of Monsters for days, it was no surprise when we saw Scylla and Charybdis; however, that did not stop us from being terrified. We absolutely couldn't go to Scylla, because we would both die, and we absolutely could not go to Charybdis, because we would both die. I couldn't lose Percy, not after Luke and Thalia. Luke and Thalia were the people I loved most in the world. Thalia died. Luke is evil. Now, Percy is my best friend (although I still have faith in Luke) and I honestly couldn't bear the loss. Think, Annabeth, think._

 _"Percy, we can't battle Scylla. Our only hope is getting out of Charybdis."_

 _"How?"_

 _"We'll think about it inside, just row to it." It was a crazy plan, but, could we do anything else? The boat started spinning, soon enough, we were inside the monster. It was disgusting, but what could you expect._

 _"Come on!" We heard in the distance._

 _"Could that be?" Percy asked._

 _"No way. "I said, knowing what he was thinking._

 _"Get to work you morons!" We heard again._

 _"Yep, that is Clarisse." We started running to the source of the voices, our enemy from camp, Clarisse. What we saw when we got to her ship surprised us. It was not the huge iron battleship, or the hundreds of zombies, but the six teenagers talking to her. They were dress very old-fashioned, like, middle ages old-fashioned. There were three girls. A very strong-looking brunette, who was the only one with normal clothes, who looked like she could go five rounds with Ares without breaking a sweat, a tall, regal-looking beautiful girl in her late teens with startling blue eyes, and a smaller girl, with red hair and freckles who seemed to be the sister of the blue-eyed girl. If I didn't know better I'd say the blue-eyed girl was a daughter of Aphrodite, but appearances don't fool me, I could see in her eyes she was wise beyond her years. There were three boys, two of them were very tall, one of them had golden hair and stood protectively over the rest. If I had to pick a leader, I'd pick him. There was a guy with shoulder-length brown hair who, judging by his body language, was dating the blue-eyed girl, although it seemed much deeper than that. The final boy had brown eyes and black hair and, though I could tell the whole group was very close, I think he's the redhead, the blonde, and the blue-eyed girl's brother._

 _I had never seen any of them in my life. They can't be demigods, although, mortals don't usually just wonder into the Bermuda triangle (Sea of Monsters) willingly. I decided to ask them why they were here. We exchanged stories and I told them about Camp Half-Blood. Apparently, they were from a land called Narnia, which they ruled. It was a hard story to wrap my head around, but I was used to the unusual._

 _We devised a plan together. We would open up the monster's stomach and get out though there. The plan worked, but my story is written elsewhere. If you want to hear it, open up a copy of_

 _ Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  _


	17. Chapter 16

Jack

We had finally gotten out of Charybdis, a ship-eating whirlpool. Now we sailed the seas once more. I was showing how to tie knots to Lucy, trying to impress her. I loved the way her warm brown eyes would sparkle when she was excited and the way her reddish hair moved with the breeze and her tiny freckles. I'd never liked a girl before, so I'm completely new at this impressing thing. I don't think she likes me, though.

I looked up and saw Susan whispering to Selene on the other side of the ship. They were probably talking about Caspian. He's really nice, he deserves someone like Susan, I just wish Lucy would like me the way Susan loves Caspian. I looked to my side to look at Lucy, a confused expression on her face.

"Why did you stop?" She asked. I looked at my hands and realized I had indeed stopped.

"Sorry, just distracted." I said.

"Hey Lu!" Ariane called. She just ruined my chances at impressing Lucy! I can't even get Lucy to pay attention to me! I realized I needed help, and I knew just where to get it.

I need someone who knows about love, and knows Lucy, and knows the guy's side of the story.

Caspian.

I decided to go to his room below deck, for I knew he'd be free at this time. When I entered, he didn't look surprised to see me.

"I thought you might drop by." He said, putting down his painting pallet. He'd been painting the Dawn Treader, not that it matters. "Girl trouble?" he asked, though he looked like he already knew the answer. I nodded. "Please sit." He said and gestured to a spare chair. "What, specifically, do you need help with?"

"It's Lucy, Caspian. I try to get her attention because I like her a lot, but I don't think she likes me back." I explained. "What could I do?"

"Well-" He started "-first off, don't do anything she might disapprove of. Once, I almost brought back Susan's worst enemy and she got extremely mad, but what hurt the most was the look she gave me. It was filled with disappointment. So you don't want Lucy to give you The Look. Second, you need to find things she's interested in. For example, tying knots is probably not the best way to impress a Queen. Lucky for you, I'm on good terms with her sister; she can tell me what Lucy will like."

"Alright, Caspian, I'll try to remember. Thanks for that help, but I also have another problem with Lucy. I'm just a lowly pirate who came from a family that tried to kill her. She's an amazing Queen. She deserves someone better. I just don't think I'm good enough." I confessed. What he told me next surprised me a lot.

"Don't worry, everyone feels that way, I still do. Listen I'm going to tell you a secret that not many people know away from Narnia and I'm sure everyone in it has forgotten. I, too, came from a family of people who tried to kill my Queen. They were called the Telemarines. They conquered Narnia and killed the creatures that used to live in it. My uncle, Miraz, killed my father, like yours. I had to escape the castle so he wouldn't kill me, too. I, like you, thought I was not deserving of the most wonderful lady in the kingdom, but trust me, like Susan, Lucy will think otherwise."

"Another question, how did you know you loved her?"

"Well, I realized when I had to rescue her in a forest when she was being attacked by Telemarines, but little things that show you how much you love her are more important. It's when you pay attention to detail. The way her hair shines in the Sun, the way you can tell what she is thinking in her eyes, the way she makes you want to scream in terror when she is fighting. Now, I want to ask you a question. When did you know you wanted to be with Lucy?"

"I liked her a lot when I first saw her, in Calormen. She looked beautiful in her orange dress. But, I knew it was hopeless because we had never met. The second time I saw her, I didn't realize it was the beautiful Queen in Calormen. All I saw was a wonderfully skilled girl who was defeating my relatives, and they're hard to fight mind you, as easily as I could weave a net. It was then I really wanted her. When I realized she they were the same person, I knew I liked her."

"Two things. One: don't ever use the phrase "She's mine" or I want her for myself", or anything like that. She is her own girl, and she will never be yours to own. Respect her. Two: I noticed you never use the word love. Why is that?"

"I'm too young to love."

"No one is too young to love. Remember that." He said, and left me alone in his chambers.

I was thinking about what he'd told me, when I heard clapping and music upstairs. I went to see what was going on. Caspian was battling Peter, both laughing. Peter pulled a rope out from Caspian's feet, which caused him to fall. Peter won this time. Everyone applauded and cheered. Lucy was cheering along with them. I decided I'd ask Caspian to teach me some of his moves so I could show Lucy. My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden quieting in the crowd. I looked to see what the fuss was about and saw it was Susan. She had grown pale and her eyes were wide. Then she spoke:

"That's the island of the Sirens! Quick, Drinian, does this ship have wax?"

"Yes, Milady."

"Alright, everyone put wax in your ears, make sure you can't hear anything and row as fast as you can past that island!"

Someone brought up a bucket of wax. I quickly put some in my ears until I couldn't hear my own breathing. Since I couldn't really do much rowing, I decided to stay on deck, to see what Susan was so anxious about. Caspian, Susan, Selene, Edmund, and Lucy also decided to stay. As we got closer to the island Susan had shown us, I could make out the shapes of huge birds. When we got even closer, I saw that the birds had human heads, beautiful women who looked like they were saying something. I wanted to take off the wax. It was a sudden urge I almost couldn't resist, but Susan had told us not to and I didn't want Lucy to be disappointed in me. If "The Look" hurt half as much as Caspian said, it would kill me.

One of the bird ladies, Sirens, I think they were called, stopped Singing and came towards us, moving her lips differently from the other Sirens. It looked like she was saying: _Ooh, this one's handsome._ I realized too late that she was looking at Caspian.

Susan realized this before it was too late. At the last second, she threw herself in front of Caspian, having the Siren take her instead. The Siren looked annoyed at the change, but started going back to her island anyway. Susan was screaming in distress and we had been too preoccupied with the wax that we forgot our weapons. Lucy ran past me faster than I'd ever seen her. I don't know how her knife would help in this situation, though. The Siren was halfway across the water to her island when she fell, taking Susan with her. Something was poking out of her feathers and I realized it was an arrow. I turned to see Lucy holding her sister's bow, smiling, knowing she'd hit her target. Caspian was about to jump off when Selene stopped him.

"You underestimate her." She said, simply, not letting go of his wrist. He looked taken aback and was about to say something when Susan yelled:

"Rope please!" This took Selene and Caspian out of their argument as they hurried to fetch a ladder. When she was pulled out, she was soaking wet and probably cold, but all I could think about was Lucy.


	18. Chapter 17

Selene

"That's the island of the Sirens! Quick, Drinian, does this ship have wax?" Susan asked.

"Yes, Milady."

A man went below deck to get the wax while Susan explained to me what the Sirens would do. They'd make you see your biggest wish in their song, draw you to them. Then they'd crash your ship against the rocks and eat the survivors. Once in a while, if they saw an exceptionally handsome man, one of them would take him to the island. If he didn't want to get married to her, she'd kill him. Extra info: Their Island is freezing cold so the men don't last very long. I put the wax the man brought up in my ears. Soon, all I could hear was my own thinking.

Caspian had to steer the ship and Su decided to stay with him. Against Peter's pleas, Lucy stayed, too. Edmund stayed to protect her while Peter supervised the men who were rowing. I don't know why Pirate boy stayed here, but I won't ask.

I saw the Sirens when we got close. They were singing, as Susan had told us. Luckily, I couldn't hear them. I saw that one Siren had stopped singing and was not coming towards us. Then I remembered something Su had told me. _If a Siren seen an exceptionally handsome man, she will take him to the island to get married._ My first though was: They're coming for Peter. Then I realized Peter wasn't here. But it was too late. The Siren was a few inches away from Caspian, and she would have gotten him, if Susan hadn't thrown herself in front of him. I was frozen in fear for my best friend. I couldn't believe she would be so stupid. _No boy is worth giving your life for, no matter how much you love him._ Over all my years as an Amazon I had learned something: _Love is not worth fighting for_. And to top it all off, Caspian was still on the ground, as paralyzed as I felt. _But it was all his fault!_ If he's been smart enough to notice a huge bird swooping to get him, Susan wouldn't be in danger!

Then I turned and saw Lucy with Susan's bow, in position. The arrow zoomed past us when she let go, striking the monster in the side. I felt completely useless as Su fell into the sea. I had forgotten to be brave. I shall never forget that again.

Caspian was about to throw himself off the ship to get Susan but as far as I could see, Susan was doing more than fine on her own so I stopped him. He needed to learn that Susan wasn't like other queens. She wasn't fragile; the girl had been through more than we could dream of.

"You underestimate her." I told him. He looked taken aback somehow. He opened his mouth as if to say something when we hear Susan yell:

"Rope, please!" There was no time to set up the rising platform, so I rushed to get a simple ladder. Finally I found one and got Su out of the water. She was freezing cold, her lips blue and her cheeks pale. Caspian had fetched a towel for her and pulled her into his arms. He looked at me and I nodded, she needed it this time. When I saw she had warmed up enough to walk, I took her below deck.

"Come on, Su, let's get you changed."

Another few days passed, when we heard:

"Land ho!" I went to grab my sword then headed out of the ship in our usual scouting party: Me, Caspian, Susan, Peter, Lucy, and Edmund. We finally decided it was wiser to leave Devon and Eustace behind in the ship (Pirate boy stayed behind to look after them).

The island was a paradise. It was full of people; it even had waitresses giving food to them. The water around it was a beautiful blue and it was full of rivers. There were tall palm trees full of delicious-looking fruit. Everyone in the island looked happy.

We walked in and a waitress came to offer us some of their food.

"Please try some of our Lotus Flowers, they're our specialty." I looked at everyone else. They seemed to be eating them just fine, so I decided to try one.

"Thank you." I said as I took one. I bit into it and suddenly everything changed. The sun was brighter, the water was purer, and the sand was softer. I was extremely happy all of a sudden. The flower itself tasted like a sweet apple pie or some honey croissants or maybe some delicious butter buns. I wanted more and more and so I took more out of the tray the waitress held.

"Relax, if you want any more, you just have to call us." She said.

Hours passed. Susan, Lucy and I played in the water, Caspian and Edmund were whispering and looking at us for some reason I didn't feel like thinking about. Peter was just reading under the shade of a palm tree when he dropped his flower like it had burned his hand.

He ran towards Caspian and Edmund and slapped the flowers out of their hands and grabbed their wrists. They both got extremely angry.

I saw Peter telling Edmund something I couldn't hear, but it seemed to make sense to Edmund because he stopped struggling. Caspian, however, did not.

"I don't have time for this, Caspian." He said, releasing his wrist. Caspian picked up his flower and started eating it again. Peter rushed to where we were, leaving Edmund to deal with him.

"Su, I'm not going to take away your flower. I want you to figure this out on your own. Is there something you've read, perhaps, Greek mythology, where there was an island, the island of the Lotus-eaters? Come on, Su, I saw you secretly reading The Oddesy, you know what I mean." Suddenly, Su gasped and dropped the flower like it too had burned her. She turned and slapped the flowers out of Lucy and my hands as well.

"Hey!" I shouted. "That's my flower!"

"Sele, it's a bad flower that will make you want to stay here forever!" It took me awhile to process what she was saying. Then I realized that I hadn't wanted to stay until I'd eaten the flower. It had confused my senses. Then I remembered my brother's words, which strangely bring me comfort and courage: _Be brave_. I noticed how stupid I'd been and was about to apologize when Edmund shouted:

"A little help over here!"

He was doing his best to hold on to Caspian, who looked as if he'd tear him apart. Then Peter explained about the flowers, and with Lucy doing her best to soothe him they finally got him to understand. I don't know why the flowers affect him the most, but they clearly do. When he realized how stupid he'd been, he looked at Susan. She looked extremely disappointed in him. When I looked back at him, he looked like he wanted to die. He looked so frail and poor I felt bad for him. I somehow knew that the flower's effect on him were not his fault.

I was actually very impressed that Peter figured out about the flowers. I decided to tell him, after all, why not?

"That was impressive, you know, the flower thing." I said when we were back on the ship.

"Thank you." He said, with a nod and a smile.


	19. Chapter 18

Peter

"It's alright, we're past the Sirens." Edmund said after he made a signal for us to take the wax out of our ears.

"Thanks, Ed." I said.

"Oh and, one more thing. I don't think you want to go to Su's room right now."

"Why not?" I started feeling worried.

"Um, Drinian's calling me." He said and ran to the deck. I ran to Susan's room. I didn't expect to see her being spoon-fed a bowl of stew by Selene and leaning into Caspian like her life depended on it.

"What's going on?" I asked them.

"Peter, when we were with the Sirens, one of them was coming to take Caspian. Susan launched herself in front of him and the Siren took her instead. Luckily, Lucy took her bow and killed the Siren, who dropped Susan into the freezing water. And I mean freezing as in negative ten degrees, but Susan swam her way back. So now we're taking care of her." I didn't know who I madder at: Susan or Caspian. I was about to start yelling at them when Selene added: "I'd like to talk to you." The look in her eyes told me she didn't approve of me yelling. I decided to go with her, _what could I lose?_

When we were safely in my quarters, she said:

"Why are you angry?" I said:

"Because Caspian is like a brother to me, but that doesn't mean my real sister has to give up her life for him!"

"I agree it is stupid to do, but don't yell at her for something she did honourably! Besides, she lived. I think you should be congratulating Lucy for her bravery instead of yelling at Susan for hers!"

"You are in no position to talk to me this way."

"Why not? I am your equal as Queen of the Amazons, a kingdom separate from Narnia; therefore, I as Queen, can talk to you, as King, however I want. And by the way, Caspian feels like dirt and Susan feels like an icicle, and instead of telling Caspian it's not his fault, which it isn't, and getting Susan more blankets, you're too busy being mad at the good they have done!" And with that, she left, slamming my door in my face.

I was quite surprised; no one had ever talked to the High King of Narnia that way before. Not even the kings of other kingdoms. I admired her for that. I was also rather mad at Selene, _but why?_ Then I realized I was mad at her because she was right. It wasn't Caspian who asked the Siren to capture him. And right now, he's giving Susan warmth and making her comfortable and probably feeling like it's all his fault and I'm only strengthening his claim. Susan was only trying to save the man she loved, I should be praising her. I really ought to congratulate Lu, too.

A few days passed and I apologized to Caspian, helped take care of Susan, and encouraged Lucy. I'm lucky Selene knocked some sense into me or I could have ended up like Eustace.

I was practicing my sword-fighting with Edmund when I heard the familiar "land ho!" that meant land. I looked at the island we were going to dock in. It was beautiful: the sea around it was bright blue and the sand was light. There were hammocks in palm trees and a small café. Some waitresses circled the island, giving food to its inhabitants.

When we docked at its port, we didn't think twice before running into the beautiful island. A waitress stopped us and asked:

"Please try some of our Lotus Flowers, they're our specialty." The flowers looked delicious so I checked that the other people were eating them too. I saw they were, so I ate one.

It tasted magical: like honey or chocolate or sugar. Or maybe all of them. I changed as well; I was happy all of a sudden, it seemed like a perfect idea to go on a hammock and eat these for the rest of my life. So that's what I planned to do.

I lay down on one and stuffed myself with flowers. I looked at the girls, who were playing in the water. I noticed Selene was smiling. She almost never smiles, now that I've seen it, I think she has a nice smile. At one point I must have fallen asleep and all I can remember is my dream.

 _"_ _Hello, Peter."_

 _"_ _Hello Aslan. Why did you summon me?"_

 _"_ _This is a dream, I didn't summon you, but I do need to tell you something. Peter, do not eat the flowers. They will make you forget everything."_

I woke up and found a book beside me. The title read: The Oddesy.

Susan had read that book once, in secret. She didn't want Mum and Dad to know that she could read so well, for they might send her away to some fancy school and her chances to come back to Narnia were over.

I decided to read it. The first few chapters were a tad confusing, but by the time I got to the fourth chapter, I was alright. In this chapter, the main character, Odysseus, has docked on an island. In it, there are tons of people, all eating a strange flower. This flower makes them forget their past little by little until they want to stay in the island forever. I almost fell off my hammock when reality struck: we were on that island, we were eating those flowers. I quickly dropped the flower and ran to Edmund and Caspian, who'd been talking this whole time. I slapped the flowers out of their hands and grabbed their wrists so they wouldn't get the flowers. They got extremely angry.

"Do you want this to be like the Turkish Delight incident, Ed?" I said. This brought him back into reality. Caspian; however, didn't want to leave. I had to get to the girls before the waitresses noticed so I said: "I don't have time for this, Caspian." Caspian picked up his flower and started eating it again. I ran to the girls, leaving Edmund to deal with him.

"Su, I'm not going to take away your flower. I want you to figure this out on your own. Is there something you've read, perhaps, Greek mythology, where there was an island, the island of the Lotus-eaters? Come on, Su, I saw you secretly reading The Oddesy, you know what I mean." Her eyes went wide when she figured out what I meant and dropped her flower. Then she made Selene and Lucy drop theirs too.

"A little help over here!"

Ed was doing his best to hold on to Caspian, who looked as if he'd fight him then and there. Then I explained about the flowers, and with Lucy doing her best to soothe him we finally got him to understand. When he realized how stupid he'd been, he looked at Susan, who looked extremely disappointed in him. He looked like he wanted to die. I sort of felt bad for him; after all, he didn't want the flowers to affect him like that. My theory is that his brain is hardwired for pain because of everything he's been though, and when he finally got a respite with the flowers, he didn't want them taken away.

"That was impressive, you know, the flower thing." Selene said when we were on the ship.

"Thank you." It meant a lot; I don't know why, that she would praise me. I think it's because she does everything easily and some things are hard to me, so her recognition is a sign I did something great.


	20. Chapter 19

Susan

He'd done it again. He's done something completely stupid that endangered us. It took him ten minutes to come back to himself from the flowers! Ten minutes! A waitress noticed and called all the other ones. We were chased into the sea! Not only was I mad at him, but I was also disappointed. Of course I love him but you'd think after being king for three years he'd know how to turn down a stupid flower! I was still thinking about it when Edmund came in.

"What do you want, Ed?"

"I want to talk to you. I just finished talking to Caspian and I thought you ought to know it wasn't his fault that the flowers affected him so."

"You mean to tell me he didn't want to eat the flower and do anything for it?"

"No, I mean to tell you that he thinks you hate him for it."

"Is he crazy?! Now I really am angry!" I said, standing up. "Where is he?"

"He's in his quarters, finishing a portrait of you!" This didn't placate my anger much so I decided to just tell Caspian I don't hate him, but that I'm still angry and very disappointed. I went to his room and when I opened the door I saw him concentrated on the painting. He looked up and he looked so sad, like a kitten kicked out of his house. It just melted my heart. He put the painting down so it wouldn't get ruined and I simply ran and hugged him, forgetting all about being angry.

"Don't you ever think I hate you, ever again!" I said loudly when I finally let go. He smiled broadly and it made it worth it. It was quite unlike me to forgive so easily, but he just looked so sad, I couldn't think of making him sad like that. Suddenly, the door opened. Peter came in to tell us we'd spotted land. I got dressed and went to deck to see the new island.

The island's beach was completely white and the water was the same colour as the sky. Identical white and blue houses were lined up in front of each other, complete with columns and flowers. At the end, there was a huge white palace that sparkled in the sun. But the island was full of girls. All blonde, with blue eyes and gowns that matched them. When we docked, the whole crew came along because they refused to stay in the ship. I could see why, from far away, the girls were beautiful, from up close, they were down-right perfect. Every inch of their pearly skin, their blonde hair so light it was almost white, their sleeveless blue dresses, and their eyes like the sea surrounding the island, was flawless. I thought Devon would fit right in.

"If there is any place opposite from the Amazons, it is this one." Selene said, disgusted.

"Take us to your queen." I said and took Caspian's hand.

"Follow me." One of them said as she led us into the castle. She had a French accent. She told everyone to stay outside while Caspian, Peter, Lucy, Edmund and I went in. Selene demanded to come in, and she basically dragged Pirate Boy in, too.

The palace was just as amazing inside as it was outside and soon, we arrived at the throne room. In a throne, which was made of white marble and decorated with blue roses, sat the most beautiful girl yet. To her right sat a girl as beautiful as she, only with curly hair instead of her twin's straight hair. They were both wearing flowing blue gowns and silver tiaras.

Peter should step forward now, but he seemed in a daze, similar to the ones the sailors were in. I stepped forward instead.

"I am Queen Susan, the Gentle of Narnia and these three are my brethren, High King Peter, the Magnificent, Queen Lucy, the Valiant, and King Edmund the Just. This is King Caspian the Tenth of Narnia. This is Queen Selene of the Amazons and, um, Prince John of Terebinthia." I said, I clearly couldn't introduce Jack as a pirate or he'd be kicked out of the chamber, so I had to say the first thing that came to mind.

"Welcome, I am Queen Fleur and this is my sister, Queen Gabrielle. We are Queens of this kingdom, the island of the Veelas." Her eyes sparkled when she looked at Peter and I got chills down my spine so I held Caspian's hand tighter. "For those of you who don't know, we help sailors. We are immortal so they will eventually die, but they are given a place with us until then." Queen Fleur said. "You four boys please follow us." Caspian looked at me, but I had a terrible feeling about this. I didn't like the way Queen Gabrielle was looking at him. Quickly, Queen Fleur grabbed his arm and led him away. At this point, I was terrified.

"You three, please follow me." A maid I didn't notice before said. She led us through a hallway with glass urns lined up at the walls. In them, there were swords, crowns, and shields. I passed one that I recognized. It was a shield with a Telemarine crest that was next to a sword, identical to the ones we'd been collecting for a month now; I had to warn Caspian that a Lord had been here. We entered a grand bedroom, with three huge beds, three wardrobes, and everything else found in a royal bedroom times three.

I heard a click that meant that we were locked in.

"We're locked in!" Selene exclaimed.

"How could I have been so stupid?! I've read about Veelas! They are immortal girls who attract sailors. If they're not handsome or young, they kill them! And if they are, they will marry them. A Veela's kiss binds a man to them forever. Its spell can't be broken! Oh, we have to save the rest!" I said.

"But how?" Asked Lucy.

"I have a plan." I said. "The Veelas were very stupid, they hadn't thought about disarming us, which means that Lucy still has her knife, which we could use to break out. But before that, we have to look like Veelas." I opened the wardrobes and, sure enough, they were full of dresses. We quickly put them on, then I found some blonde wigs (why they were there, I don't know). Soon enough, we looked pretty enough to pass for Veelas.

Lucy used her knife to open the door. There were no guards or any kind of security. I grabbed the Lord's sword and shield so Selene could fight with them, for her original sword had a broken hilt (it broke when we tried to escape the Lotus-eaters). We got to the throne room, which was empty except for the maids.

"Excuse me; do you know where we could find the Queens? We have to show them these weapons… for inspection." I asked, with my best try at their accent.

"Alright, follow me." She said. She led us to the royal gardens. They were full of roses of every colour, and bushes with the greenest of leaves. A line of stones led to the centre that had two marble benches, and what was there made my skin boil. Caspian was looking at Queen Gabrielle as if under a spell, and Peter was doing the same with Queen Fleur. Edmund sat on the grass with some other Veela, and Pirate boy was walking through the roses with another. I saw Lucy's cheeks flush red and Selene's eyes narrow. I was so angry there might have been steam coming off my head. Luckily, none of the Veelas seemed to be getting married, which meant that they hadn't kissed yet. Fleur seemed to be at a respectful distance from Peter, for a Veela that meant she wasn't sitting on his lap, while her sister was sitting on Caspian's, twisting his hair around her finger. Then, they started leaning in, both their eyes closed. I was dizzy and scared beyond terrified, because if their lips touched, I would lose him forever. _You'll have to yank him away from my cold, dead, hands, Gabrielle._ I thought, as I charged at her. I pushed her off the bench so hard my hands hurt from the impact. Then I looked sideways at Caspian, who looked confused, almost angry that I'd done that. I kissed him with so much force, he almost fell off the bench, too. Selene and Lucy had already grabbed the other boys. "We need to get out of here." I said, then took Caspian's arm and ran as fast as I could toward the ship.


	21. Chapter 20

Lucy

"We need to get out of here." Su said. I couldn't agree more.

"After them!" Queen Fleur commanded. Quickly, the Veelas that had been on the streets ran after us. The crew, Eustace, Devon, Gael, Brian, and Ariane ran after them. Caspian started yelling for them to snap out of it. All but five crew members went back on the ship. We had no choice but to drag the rest onto the ship, which slowed us down quite a bit. Luckily, the Veelas refused to get their dresses wet, so they didn't follow us past the water.

A few days had passed. I was in my room, talking to Ariane about how I didn't think Pirate Boy would ever like me when the door opened.

Pirate Boy stood in the entryway, looking a bit uncomfortable. I blushed deep red, _how much had he heard?_ From the looks of him, nothing, _good_.

"We have spotted land again." Was it just me, or was he blushing a little, too? _He doesn't like you, remember?_ "Um, Lucy, are you alright?" He asked. I realized I'd been staring at him, but Ariane covered up for me:

"Of course, she's just very tired; she had too many nightmares last night."

"Oh, that makes sense. Anyway, we need to get going. Lucy, grab your knife and cordial and meet Peter on deck." I nodded and when he left, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

The island looked a little bit like Narnia: it wasn't the ruined village that had been Narrowheaven; neither did it have the perfection of Veela Island. It wasn't like Narnia in the sense of population. As far as we could see, the island was deserted. The whole crew decided to go down again, for fear that the trees might obscure us were we in danger. I could see that the Sun was setting and so could everybody else.

"We should spend the night on the beach." Caspian said. The rest nodded in approval. When Su was asleep, I decided to take a look at a book she'd been reading. Apparently, it was called "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I tried to read it, but it was so hard, I fell asleep trying. I was sleeping when I started to hear voices, which I thought were part of my dream, for there was no one in sight.

"Here's a girl!"

"Not her, this one reads!"

I felt something on my mouth. I tried to scream, but it was impossible. I was lifted into the air by some invisible force that seemed to be the source of the voices. I was carried through the forest until I reached a clearing, with a path that led to a meadow.

"Listen, you'd better do what we say or we'll kill you!" I heard some murmuring that sounded like: _Well said, Chief, well done, Chief, good job, Chief…_

"I wouldn't be much use to you dead, will I?" I said. The murmuring changed to: _Didn't see that coming, do something about it, Chief, yeah, show her..._

"Then we'll just kill your friends." The Chief said.

"Yeah, we're big and scary!" Another invisible monster said.

"We've got the teeth of a tiger and the claws of a hawk and the legs of a tiger!" Said another.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, finally giving in.

"You must go to the house of the Oppressor and his daughter, and say the spell to make the unseen seen!" Said the Chief.

"How do I get in? I don't see a mansion." I said. Then, out of nowhere, an invisible door opened at the entrance of the meadow. I felt something pushing me through. Inside, the mansion was a bit mediocre, with old sets of armour and dark paintings on the walls. Soon, I arrived at a giant library, so amazing, I'm sure Susan would want to live in it. The books reached the roof, which was incredibly high. The room itself was round, and so were the bookshelves. There were even ladders to get to the top books. There was a book in a stone stand in the middle of everything. It had a colourful cover that gave me a mysterious magical feeling. I realized this must be the book the invisible monsters were referring to. I opened the first page, and, sure enough, there was a spell. It was a spell to make it snow. I decided to try it, for I didn't see how it could fit in a library. As soon as I finished, snow started falling from the ceiling. It was truly beautiful. I turned a few more pages, trying to find the invisibility spell, but then something caught my eye. It was a page with some sort of mirror and words written around it in beautiful handwriting. At first, I saw myself, then, the image turned into none other than Susan.

"Susan what's going-" I stopped as I saw the mirror talking at the same time as I. I touched my face in disbelief, but it still felt like my face. Then, the image of Su started disappearing.

"No, no, no!" I said, for I had enjoyed being beautiful for once. The words in the previous page read:

 _An infallible spell to make you she; the beauty you've always wanted to be_

"I don't care, I will recite the spell." I said to myself, for I had a bad feeling about it _. But right now, I have a mission_. I decided I would recite the spell in the safety of my quarters, so I ripped the page out. The second I did, I heard a tremendous roar and the pages started flipping. When the pages stopped, I read the title of the page it had landed on: A spell to make the unseen seen. I knew this was the spell I'd been sent for and so I read it out loud. Nothing seemed to happen. Then, suddenly, a ladder moved to the side and a man appeared on it reading. The man started walking towards me. He had grey hair and knowing brown eyes and a long beard. A moment later, the door to the library reopened and in came a pretty young lady. She resembled the magician, who seemed to be her father. She had bushy brown hair that somehow looked very good on her and the same eyes as her father.

"Hello, I am the wizard Coriakin and this is my daughter, Gema."

"Welcome, Queen Lucy." Gema said.

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"I can see the future and my father is a magician. Anyway, your friends are getting quite worried about you; don't you think we should let them in?" She said. I nodded, worried about my friends.

"Are they all right?" I asked.

"Yes, they have by now figured out that the horrible monsters aren't all that horrible." She responded as she walked to the front door with her father, beckoning me to follow.


	22. Chapter 21

Edmund

Caspian and I were woken by the bright Sun that shone on the island. I decided to wake up my siblings so we could explore the island. I had just finished waking up Su when I realized something was very wrong. The bump under Lucy's blankets was smaller than Lucy should be, and it wasn't breathing.

I uncovered it and found it full of leaves.

"Peter! Susan! Caspian! Wake up everybody! Lucy's missing!" I yelled, extremely worried for the safety of my sister.

"I will take five of you, plus the usual party, the rest of you will stay here in case something bad happens to us." Caspian said, immediately taking control of the situation. Peter picked five crew members randomly and led them, Selene, Susan, Devon, Eustace, Pirate Boy, Caspian, and me into the woods. We followed the large footprints left by Lucy's aggressors. Soon enough, we found a small clearing, which led to a meadow.

"Look, its Lucy's knife!" I exclaimed, picking it up.

"Who's there?" Asked a voice, it was quickly followed by admiring whispers. The owners of the voices seemed to be invisible.

"Where is my sister?!" Susan demanded, pointing her bow at the general direction of the voices. Suddenly, she was thrown sideways by some invisible force. Caspian ran to her and held out his sword protectively when it, too, was thrown out of his reach. All our weapons soon followed.

"What are you?" I asked.

"We're terrible monsters!" The voice responded

"With the fangs of a snake!" Another voice said.

"Yeah, and we're huge!" Exclaimed another. Suddenly, a shimmering appeared from the voices and the funniest of creatures appeared. There were about ten dwarfs, only they weren't dwarfs. They had one big foot coming from underneath them instead of two and mushrooms on their heads. They were also quite large in the tummy.

"And what are you going to do, run us over with your big bellies?" Caspian said as he laughed at them.

"Your sister has done it!" The one that seemed to be in charge said.

"We're visible again!" Another stated. They started to dance and jump happily out of the clearing.

"Wait, what did Lucy do?" Peter asked.

"She went into the Oppressor's mansion and used the spell to make the unseen seen!" The only one left said.

"What mansion?" I asked, for here there was only a big meadow and a wood. Then some shimmering appeared all over the meadow and a mansion appeared on it. "Oh, that mansion!" I said. Suddenly the door opened, and Lu appeared, accompanied by a man and a girl.

"Lucy!" Su said as she ran to hug her.

"Hello everyone, this is Coriakin, the lord of this island and his daughter, Gema."

"Please, come in." Gema said.

"Oh, and, I'm sorry, but you five can't come into my home, we are going to have a very private conversation." Everyone went back to the ship without much complaint because they knew of the magician's power.

We went into the mansion, which was far too gloomy for my taste. Soon, we were at a library. Susan gasped in admiration, I'd do it myself if I wasn't preoccupied looking at a book that was in the middle of the room.

"That is the Book of Spells, the book Lucy read from to turn the monsters and my mansion visible. But we're not going to be looking at that. Please follow me." He said as he walked over to an empty space in the room. He took what appeared to be a large scroll and put it on the floor. The scroll began to magically unravel itself until it was a three dimensional map of this world. I could see Narnia, Archenland, Calormen, and each one of the Lone Islands plus the mysterious islands we had encountered. It was a very beautiful map with a centaur painted at the bottom, blowing a war horn.

"It's beautiful." Eustace said, much to my surprise. "I mean for a make-believe map of a make-believe world!" He added quickly, trying to seem disgusted.

"You must find the seven lost swords of Telemar. Then, you must lay them at the Stone Table in Ramandu's Island." Coriakin said.

"To get to Ramandu's island, you must follow his daughter, the Blue Star." Added Gema.

"You must also be warned. The last sword is in the Island of Darkness. It will become your worst nightmare." Then, he looked at each one of us in turn.

"Do not doubt." He said to Peter.

"Do not fear what is to come." Gema said to Susan.

"Do not underestimate yourself." He said to Caspian.

"Do not be vain." She said to Lucy.

"Do not let your past define your future." He said to Devon.

"Do not let your fears sneak up on you." She said to Selene.

"Do not think your family is the people you came from." He said to Pirate Boy.

"And do not be tempted." Gema said to me. _How did she know?_ Ever since I was nine, counting the time we spent in Narnia, my greatest fear has been the White Witch's return. I was afraid I would be tempted by her once again. I also feared what would have happened, had I come to Narnia alone for the first time.

I saw everyone was having different reactions to their words. Peter looked like he was trying to be strong, Susan looked angry, but there were tears in her eyes, Caspian looked sort of satisfied, Lucy looked terrified, Devon was actually crying, but her crying looked more real than it usually was, Selene looked like someone had slapped her, and Pirate Boy was trying hard not to cry. I wondered why their words affected each so. For all I know, Pete had never doubted himself, he always seemed so confident. I understood Su, she was afraid Aslan would take her away and she was angry at everyone for telling her it will be alright when we all know it won't. I knew Caspian underestimated himself, but I thought he wouldn't doubt himself so much after being a wonderful king. I have absolutely no idea what Lu's comment meant. Lucy was one of the most selfless people I knew, she never cared for beauty of material things. I also didn't know what they meant with Selene, maybe she was so brave and strong she didn't know her own fears and then, they would sneak up on her? I knew about Pirate Boy, it was the same conflict that Caspian had had a few years back, he needed to realize that the pirates are not his family, his true friends are. I thought Devon's had something to do with being a Veela or an Amazon, although, now that I think about it, we've been to both islands. I understand that she didn't want to go to the Amazons for fear they might punish her for running away, but her mother is a Veela, surely she'd want to see her. But now I realized; how much do we really know about Devon? Her crying seemed real; it was a soft whimpering instead of a dramatic flow of tears.

Anyway, when we left the Magician's Island, we were all very stunned. Most of us went into our quarters, just to think.

That night I dreamt that the White Witch had come back, and she wanted my family and she'd give me Turkish Delight in return. When I refused, she killed me and my family.


	23. Chapter 22

Eustace

 _Dear Diary,_

 _We've been in this rotten ship for days now. I'm patiently waiting until we reach a civilized country so I can contact the British Consul and get them to arrest this crew for kidnapping._

 _I really hate it here. As I stated in one of the previous entries, my cousins are most delusional. Even Susan, who had to date, been my favourite and most logical cousin, the only one I didn't hate, is convinced that she's the Queen of this world. And apparently, she is madly in love with King Caspian. I don't know how someone could fall in love with him, but she did. Meanwhile, everyone else is looking for lost lords and islands. The sea must be playing with their minds._

 _We have just returned from another stupid island yesterday, this one full of little, one-footed monsters called Dufflepuds. We also met a magician who claimed to be able to do real magic, and his daughter, who thinks she can see the future._

 _I just hope the next place we encounter is civilized; I must bring charges against my cousins._

 _I almost forgot to write about that beautiful girl, Devon. The poor girl is also delusional. I don't worry much about it, though. Soon enough she'll notice my handsomeness and forget all about Narnia._

 _I must cease to continue, it seems we have encountered another island._

I went to deck to see the island, hoping for signs of civilization. Instead, the island was a mess with tall mountains.

"Drinian, have our men stay on the ship. Susan, Lucy, Selene, Peter, Edmund, Pirate Boy, and, I hate to say it, but Devon has to come, too." Drinian nodded and went to tell the crew.

"So you've finally figured out that I'm better than that demon-eyed hag that calls herself a Queen?" Devon said, batting her eyelashes for effect. Susan's face glowed bright red, but I knew better than to think it was embarrassment. Caspian looked like he was putting all his energy into not strangling Devon: I'm proud of her.

"No, I just decided it would be better to have some more people who can handle a bow, even if they have one eighth of Susan's talent." He said, making Devon blush a deep red. He smiled triumphantly, which only made me hate him more. I narrowed my eyes at him, which only made him chuckle.

"Let's go then." Lucy said, probably unaware of the tension.

We went down into the island, hoping to find fresh game and some water. We walked for two hours; I had to ask for ten rests. The terrible thing was, these people are more interested in acting all strong and not in being safe and well-rested. Peter is at the lead and talking to Selene, Lucy, Edmund, and Pirate Boy are in the middle, and Susan is in the back, her bow ready to shoot animals, while talking to Caspian. Devon is at least being reasonable; she's telling everyone how tired she is and begging for rest. The awful thing is, no one is listening to her.

After those two hours of walking, Caspian declared:

"Nothing grows here, there are no animals, and all the rivers are dry. We must go back to the ship and notify the crew of these grave news." I was so angry, I'm sure I could have strangled Caspian for making us walk two hours!

Instead, I had a better idea.

I'd escape, hopefully finding some other civilization, or some animal, and also get some rest. When my cousins were too busy talking, I fled.

I had been walking for half an hour, taking consistent rests, when I saw something that glistened. I approached it and found a real gold ring! I decided to put it on, after all: _finders, keepers!_

I looked up and saw something much better than the ring: treasure! It was huge, full of gold coins and jewels. There were suits of armour and even some swords! There was a huge cave simply stuffed with treasure. On my way there, I tripped on something; I looked down and screamed, for I had tripped on a skeleton.

He must have been here a hundred years ago or so, because there wasn't any sign of danger here. I noticed a beautiful golden bangle he was wearing.

"You won't be needing that anymore." I said to him, even though he was dead.

Suddenly, I was rather tired. I realized I'd been walking for two hours and a half and hadn't eaten since breakfast. I decided to go into the cave and maybe get some sleep. After I checked for danger, I lay down in a pile of gold. My dreams were short, but always about me owning my own island with all that gold and having my cousins and Caspian be my slaves and Devon was my wife.

When I woke up, I noticed something was wrong. The bangle on my arm hurt incredibly and as I turned to look at it, I realized my arm was huge and red and was filled with scales. I looked down at my body. It was lizard-like, red, and scaly, only with two huge wings at the sides. I tried to scream, but fire came out of my mouth instead.

For some reason unknown to me, I was a dragon. I flapped my wings, trying them out, but I couldn't fly in the cave. I walked out on four legs, which felt rather strange and noticed something I hadn't seen before: a huge skeleton of a dragon. I was terribly afraid at this point: what if I stayed a dragon forever?

I decided to fly as fast as I could to the ship. Then I thought; what if they left me here? I used all my energy into going there as fast as I could, but I saw two little specks on the ground halfway to the beach. People! I swooped down behind them, hoping to throw one on my back when one that was Edmund turned around.

"Caspian, look out!" He said. Caspian had time to dive and avoid me, but I was too fast for Edmund. I put him on my back and it was when I heard him scream that I had no idea how to show it was me.

I tried to speak, but again, only fire came out of my mouth, and then I had an idea: I would use my fire to write on the stone!

I swooped downward and started writing, it was difficult, but when I was finished, Edmund said:

"Oh! You're Eustace?" I did my best to nod my head, and then I returned to the ship. There, Edmund explained about me being a dragon. He also said that he and Caspian had passed my cave and found a Lord's sword. They, too had seen the dead dragon, and as Ariane carefully removed the bangle from my arm, Peter said:

"Everyone knows a dragon's treasure is cursed!" I looked at him, trying to convey my message _: I'm not from here, remember?_ "Well, anyone from here." He added. That night, there was a huge discussion about what they'd do with me. They finally decided to figure something out in the morning. I was crying because I didn't like being a dragon! And, I was worried they'd just leave me here to die! The mouse Reepicheep saw me and I just wanted him to go away, for surely he was just going to try to brag about something. Instead, he told me about his adventures, and then said something that made me feel warmer than I'd been in my life.

"Extraordinary things only happen to extraordinary people! Maybe it's a sign, that you've got an extraordinary destiny! Something greater than you could have imagined."


	24. Chapter 23

Caspian

 _Do not underestimate yourself_ , Coriakin had said.

I had mixed feelings about what he said. On one hand, it could be an insult, calling me insecure; on the other hand, it could be a compliment, telling me I'm better than I think.

I suppose I am insecure, one of my worst fears being my father's disappointment. I still feel like me becoming king was me being born to the right person at the right time. I also strongly believed I wasn't good enough for Susan, _or was I?_ At that time, the door opened; it was Susan.

"You keep thinking about what Coriakin said, don't you? Well, I'd love to be a good person and tell you not to worry about it, but the truth is, I'm thinking about it, too." She said as she closed the door and lay down on the bed beside me. "You never told me you were insecure. Explain and I'll explain about me, and no lies."

"Fine; the truth is I'm always thinking I only got the throne by luck. I just happened to have the best professor and the worst father. I simply blew a horn and you all came and basically fought for me, yet letting me take the credit."

"Caspian, not everyone can be kind, good, and brave, whilst growing up an orphaned Telemarine prince. Also, no matter what one is taught during their life, they will always make their own choices, it was you who chose to fight your own family for what was right. No one forced you to spare your uncle, no one forced you to fight at the front line of the war, and do you really think Aslan would have chosen you to be King if he hadn't known for sure you were great? Everyone makes mistakes; Edmund betrayed us, Peter kept getting into fights back in England, Lucy trusted too much for her own good, and I was the very last to truly fall in love with Narnia. Those are only examples, there's many more." Her words made me fill with warmth and pride, but there was something she'd confirmed and it was that I was definitely not good enough for her.

"Alright, now tell me about you."

"I'm angry at Aslan." Those words surprised me an incredible lot. "It was him that brought us all to Narnia. He didn't even care about us, the many times I secretly cried at night the first time we left. I always would beg him for a sign that would show me it wasn't all a dream. Nothing changed. I beat myself to get used to the fact that we were in Finchley and to know that if we were ever in Narnia again, it wouldn't last. The second time we came, I tried not to enjoy myself because that would only make leaving so much harder. You made that much more difficult. I would think you'd know of the pain I felt as we were leaving. I cried every day. I hardly ate or drank. All that time, I begged and prayed to Aslan to send me back, not so much as a tiny sign was given to me in return. Instead, every time I tried to complain, everyone would tell me to be thankful to Aslan and to have faith. I tried hard, I really did." At this point she'd started crying. "There's only so much pain I can take!" Now she started sobbing. After she managed to collect herself she added: "I been in wars and seen death and have always tried to take care of Peter, Edmund, and Lucy! And everyone gave the credit of all of that to Him!" Now she started sobbing again but this time she didn't stop. I held her close and she held on tight. Finally, we fell asleep and either no one had seen us, or they'd decided not to disrupt.

I was awoken by Susan, who told me she was going to go change and that I should meet her on deck. I got changed too, then went to the deck as she'd instructed. It was still dark, but the Sun would be out soon.

"Follow me." She whispered when she got up. The only one on deck was Drinian, who was acting like he hadn't seen us, but when Susan looked away, he turned and winked at me.

Susan led me to the top of the back of the ship. We sat down on a small bench designed for sailors and looked at the sea.

"When I awake early, I always come up here to see the sunrise. It is the most beautiful event of the day." She said as she laid her head on my shoulder as we watched the sky turn rosy and the magnificent Sun go up. I smiled at its beauty, for it really was the prettiest event of the day.

We got up when the Sun was higher and as we turned to leave, I noticed a small patch of land on the horizon.

"Look, My Queen. There's land!" We went to tell Drinian about it so he could get the rest up.

An hour later, I decided to send a landing party. We explored for hours. I started getting angry because Eustace and Devon were always complaining. Sadly, we had also discovered the land was unprosperous. I decided to go back to the ship to tell everyone when:

"Caspian look!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing towards the ground.

"It's like a burn mark." Peter observed.

"Oh, no!" Susan said, her eyes wide. Her expression worried me a bit.

"What's wrong, Su?" Edmund asked her, looking worried, too.

"Don't you see? The soil is hard, it has burn marks, there's tall mountains and caves that could easily conceal our ship, there's no animals, and all the rivers are dry!"

"But, what does that mean?" Devon asked.

"There's a Dragon here for Aslan's sake!" She snapped. How did I not figure it out before?!

"We need to get back, now!" Lucy said.

"Uh oh, where's that little annoying cousin of yours?" Selene asked.

"He's missing! We need to find him. Edmund, come with me. Peter, take Devon to the ship. Selene and Susan, go south with Pirate Boy and Lucy. We'll go west." I said. Soon, Edmund and I found a gigantic treasure. We knew this was the cursed dragon's treasure, our theory was supported by a giant set of bones. We also decided to look to see if any Lord was here. We actually did find a sword. That would make three!

"Oh, no! My poor cousin! He was too young!" Edmund cried over what I saw were ragged clothing and a diary. We were going back to the ship to report our sad findings when Edmund yelled:

"Caspian, look out!" I ducked just in time, but a huge dragon took Edmund! I decided it'd be wiser to get help before I tried to rescue Edmund. I got to the ship, but a second later, so did Edmund and the dragon. Edmund then explained that it was actually Eustace.

Drinian and I had a long argument that night about where to put Eustace. We decided to figure it out in the morning. Just before bed, Lucy saw the Blue Star. That night I also saw Aslan's face in the stars, s blessing to us. The next day, we decided that Eustace should fly along with us. He turned out to be quite useful in a way. He would carry us when there was no wind, and honestly he was a better dragon than a boy.

That day, I was strangely filled with hope, as seemed to be the rest. I believed it to be the Blessing of Aslan. I spent the day with little arguments, following the Blue Star, and talking with the people I considered my family: Susan, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, Selene, Pirate Boy, Ariane, Brian, and even little Gael.

It was not a big surprise when that night I had the best dream I'd had in my life.


	25. Chapter 24

Caspian

 _Do not underestimate yourself_ , Coriakin had said.

I had mixed feelings about what he said. On one hand, it could be an insult, calling me insecure; on the other hand, it could be a compliment, telling me I'm better than I think.

I suppose I am insecure, one of my worst fears being my father's disappointment. I still feel like me becoming king was me being born to the right person at the right time. I also strongly believed I wasn't good enough for Susan, _or was I?_ At that time, the door opened; it was Susan.

"You keep thinking about what Coriakin said, don't you? Well, I'd love to be a good person and tell you not to worry about it, but the truth is, I'm thinking about it, too." She said as she closed the door and lay down on the bed beside me. "You never told me you were insecure. Explain and I'll explain about me, and no lies."

"Fine; the truth is I'm always thinking I only got the throne by luck. I just happened to have the best professor and the worst father. I simply blew a horn and you all came and basically fought for me, yet letting me take the credit."

"Caspian, not everyone can be kind, good, and brave, whilst growing up an orphaned Telemarine prince. Also, no matter what one is taught during their life, they will always make their own choices, it was you who chose to fight your own family for what was right. No one forced you to spare your uncle, no one forced you to fight at the front line of the war, and do you really think Aslan would have chosen you to be King if he hadn't known for sure you were great? Everyone makes mistakes; Edmund betrayed us, Peter kept getting into fights back in England, Lucy trusted too much for her own good, and I was the very last to truly fall in love with Narnia. Those are only examples, there's many more." Her words made me fill with warmth and pride, but there was something she'd confirmed and it was that I was definitely not good enough for her.

"Alright, now tell me about you."

"I'm angry at Aslan." Those words surprised me an incredible lot. "It was him that brought us all to Narnia. He didn't even care about us, the many times I secretly cried at night the first time we left. I always would beg him for a sign that would show me it wasn't all a dream. Nothing changed. I beat myself to get used to the fact that we were in Finchley and to know that if we were ever in Narnia again, it wouldn't last. The second time we came, I tried not to enjoy myself because that would only make leaving so much harder. You made that much more difficult. I would think you'd know of the pain I felt as we were leaving. I cried every day. I hardly ate or drank. All that time, I begged and prayed to Aslan to send me back, not so much as a tiny sign was given to me in return. Instead, every time I tried to complain, everyone would tell me to be thankful to Aslan and to have faith. I tried hard, I really did." At this point she'd started crying. "There's only so much pain I can take!" Now she started sobbing. After she managed to collect herself she added: "I been in wars and seen death and have always tried to take care of Peter, Edmund, and Lucy! And everyone gave the credit of all of that to Him!" Now she started sobbing again but this time she didn't stop. I held her close and she held on tight. Finally, we fell asleep and either no one had seen us, or they'd decided not to disrupt.

I was awoken by Susan, who told me she was going to go change and that I should meet her on deck. I got changed too, then went to the deck as she'd instructed. It was still dark, but the Sun would be out soon.

"Follow me." She whispered when she got up. The only one on deck was Drinian, who was acting like he hadn't seen us, but when Susan looked away, he turned and winked at me.

Susan led me to the top of the back of the ship. We sat down on a small bench designed for sailors and looked at the sea.

"When I awake early, I always come up here to see the sunrise. It is the most beautiful event of the day." She said as she laid her head on my shoulder as we watched the sky turn rosy and the magnificent Sun go up. I smiled at its beauty, for it really was the prettiest event of the day.

We got up when the Sun was higher and as we turned to leave, I noticed a small patch of land on the horizon.

"Look, My Queen. There's land!" We went to tell Drinian about it so he could get the rest up.

An hour later, I decided to send a landing party. We explored for hours. I started getting angry because Eustace and Devon were always complaining. Sadly, we had also discovered the land was unprosperous. I decided to go back to the ship to tell everyone when:

"Caspian look!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing towards the ground.

"It's like a burn mark." Peter observed.

"Oh, no!" Susan said, her eyes wide. Her expression worried me a bit.

"What's wrong, Su?" Edmund asked her, looking worried, too.

"Don't you see? The soil is hard, it has burn marks, there's tall mountains and caves that could easily conceal our ship, there's no animals, and all the rivers are dry!"

"But, what does that mean?" Devon asked.

"There's a Dragon here for Aslan's sake!" She snapped. How did I not figure it out before?!

"We need to get back, now!" Lucy said.

"Uh oh, where's that little annoying cousin of yours?" Selene asked.

"He's missing! We need to find him. Edmund, come with me. Peter, take Devon to the ship. Selene and Susan, go south with Pirate Boy and Lucy. We'll go west." I said. Soon, Edmund and I found a gigantic treasure. We knew this was the cursed dragon's treasure, our theory was supported by a giant set of bones. We also decided to look to see if any Lord was here. We actually did find a sword. That would make three!

"Oh, no! My poor cousin! He was too young!" Edmund cried over what I saw were ragged clothing and a diary. We were going back to the ship to report our sad findings when Edmund yelled:

"Caspian, look out!" I ducked just in time, but a huge dragon took Edmund! I decided it'd be wiser to get help before I tried to rescue Edmund. I got to the ship, but a second later, so did Edmund and the dragon. Edmund then explained that it was actually Eustace.

Drinian and I had a long argument that night about where to put Eustace. We decided to figure it out in the morning. Just before bed, Lucy saw the Blue Star. That night I also saw Aslan's face in the stars, s blessing to us. The next day, we decided that Eustace should fly along with us. He turned out to be quite useful in a way. He would carry us when there was no wind, and honestly he was a better dragon than a boy.

That day, I was strangely filled with hope, as seemed to be the rest. I believed it to be the Blessing of Aslan. I spent the day with little arguments, following the Blue Star, and talking with the people I considered my family: Susan, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, Selene, Pirate Boy, Ariane, Brian, and even little Gael.

It was not a big surprise when that night I had the best dream I'd had in my life.


	26. Chapter 25: Dreams

_Caspian's Dream_

 _I was standing on a platform decorated with flowers. There was lovely music in the air. There were chairs, full of people, all facing me. I was in a meadow, full of flowers of every colour. There was a flower wall behind the chairs. I recognized most faces; some instantly, like Selene and Brian, some took me a little longer, like the palace maids. Edmund was standing on one side of me, Pirate Boy on the other. Aslan himself was standing behind me. The music got louder and the people in the seats stood up._

 _"_ _Don't be nervous, Caspian. This is a great day!" Edmund whispered with a smile. Now I realized I was for some reason a little nervous, but then, Lucy and Gael appeared from behind the flower wall, wearing blue dresses and big smiles. Lucy was carrying a pillow with two beautiful rings and Gael was carrying a bouquet of flowers. Behind them, Peter was walking towards me, a very proud expression on his face. His arm was laced with the arm of the most beautiful woman I'd seen in my life._

 _She outshone the most beautiful Veela. She was wearing a magnificent white dress that had golden threads lacing through its fabric, making it shine in the sunlight. She was wearing a long veil that reached as far as I could see, with a tiara of real gold flowers on top. Her hair was tied up in fancy knots, with black curls tumbling down her back. Her smile made me melt. She had piercing blue eyes that matched the girls' dresses. She got to the platform and I realized that she was none other than my Susan._

 _Aslan started to give a speech, but I could barely pay attention. She was looking at me in a way that meant the world to me, because it was a look that was full of undying love._

 _"_ _My King, Caspian. I vow to look after you, in day or night, in sickness or health. I vow to be there for you when you need me. I vow to give you good advice and guide you to being the better king I know you'll be." She said when Aslan finished._

 _"_ _My Queen, Susan. I vow to hold you, to kiss you, and not only help you when you cry but to cry along with you. I vow to bring happiness to the darkest of days so we can see and go through them together. I vow to be the King you made me and see to it that we are not only equals, but are one." The words poured out of me like I'd rehearsed them before, and I meant every single one._

 _"_ _Queen Susan, do you take King Caspian's hand in marriage?" Aslan said._

 _"_ _I do." She said, her eyes filling with tears._

 _"_ _And King Caspian, do you take Queen Susan's hand in marriage?"_

 _I looked at Edmund, who simply nodded, then at Lucy, who also seemed to be holding back tears, then at Peter, who looked at me as if to say: you take care of her if you know what's good for you, and finally, at a familiar-looking man sitting in the front. He looked happier than I thought possible when he whispered:_

 _"_ _I'm proud of you, son." And with that, I had all I'd ever wanted. Without hesitation, I said turned to Susan and said:_

 _"_ _I do."_

 _Susan's dream_

 _Pain._

 _The only thing I knew at that moment was pain. Black spots clouded my vision as I screamed from the horrible pain in my stomach. I even had a hard time breathing._

 _I mustered the energy to look sideways and saw Caspian, holding my hand. I realized his fingers were purple from my squeezing._

 _I noticed I was in my room, with my favourite maids and Ariane clouded around me. Selene was at my side, wetting my forehead with some cloth._

 _The pain suddenly got even worse and I screamed in agony, hoping someone would do something about it. Ariane told the maids something that I couldn't hear over the sound of my cries and even if I could, my head hurt too much to process it. Caspian started whispering reassuring words and stroking my hair, but the pain was too much for me. I wanted to simply lose consciousness, but I had a feeling I should keep fighting._

 _Suddenly, I was extremely wet. It would have been most uncomfortable, but again the pain kept me from concentrating on other things._

 _Suddenly, the pain stopped completely. I lay my head back and sighed in relief. But then, I heard cries different from my own. They were the cries of a baby._

 _"_ _Well done, Su." Selene said. Ariane gave me a little bundle, which seemed to be the source of the cries._

 _I was in terrible shape from the pain I had felt, but I still had energy to feel happier than anyone had ever been when I saw the baby in the bundle._

 _He was beautiful. He had a little bit of curly brown hair on his head and had tiny little hands that wrapped around my finger._

 _So this is what resulted of Caspian and my love; the most beautiful creature ever to exist._

 _"_ _What will you name him, My Queen?" Caspian asked._

 _Then I knew. I'd never heard this name before, but I knew it was absolutely perfect. Without tearing my eyes away from my baby, I answered:_

 _"_ _Rilian."_

 _Peter's dream_

 _I found myself in a small island. The water surrounding it was turquoise and piled up like walls, never getting into the island, but creating some sort of barrier around it. The sand was soft under my bare feet and was a very light colour. The sky didn't show a single cloud and the Sun shone into the small island._

 _Suddenly, the water parted and in came the Great Lion, Aslan._

 _I bowed, as was customary._

 _"_ _Rise, High King Peter."_

 _"_ _Is this a dream, Aslan?" I asked as I rose._

 _"_ _For now, yes. But who says dreams can't come true? Your dearest ones will come true somehow, maybe not exactly the same way as you thought they would, but will happen somehow; nonetheless."_

 _"_ _Is there anything you've wanted to tell me, Aslan?"_

 _"_ _Yes, but Peter, this is just a fake dream, the kind that may come true someday. I'm not the real Aslan, I'm just the Aslan in a dream you want to come true. Do you understand?"_

 _"_ _I believe so."_

 _"_ _Good. Well, I've come to tell you that you have been a great High King. I would never let you leave again, not even if we have Caspian now. You have served a great purpose to Narnia. Your reactions to Caspian's arrival were only normal, you have done nothing wrong."_

 _"_ _Thank you, Aslan." I said, and I felt like I finally did well._

 _Edmund's dream_

 _"_ _I'm proud to announce the opening of the Dawn Treader memorial!" I said. Cheers erupted from the crowd. "The Dawn Treader will be put on display so everyone can have a chance to see the ship that carried the crew that took on such a brave challenge. The sailors of the Dawn Treader are to be given a special thanks and a special prize that consists of money. I will call them each, one at a time, to receive these medallions…"I called the names of the crew, one by one. When I was finished, I went down the stage. I noticed a girl was talking to two young boys, who seemed to be arguing._

 _"_ _Greetings." I said as I went to her, wondering if I could help with the children. It was my duty to help my people, after all. She looked up at me and curtseyed._

 _"_ _Greetings, King Edmund. To what do I owe the pleasure to meet you?" I noticed she was very beautiful, with wise brown eyes and dark brown curls down her back._

 _"_ _I wanted to see what's going on here."_

 _"_ _It's just my siblings fighting, Your Majesty. They were asking me what was fair, for they seem to think I'm very just. I was just telling little Posy that it wasn't fair that he got more hours with the family doll."_

 _"_ _For one, I agree, but I will see to it that Posy and his brother get new dolls. Second, call me Edmund. And lastly, I would like to ask you, what's your name?" She smiled as she answered:_

 _"_ _Aida."_

 _Lucy's dream_

 _I was standing in the balcony of my room in Cair Paravel, watching the sunset._

 _Cair Paravel was intact, unlike it had been when we came back to Narnia. My room looked the same as always, only it had a full-length mirror on one wall._

 _Even in the Golden Age, I had liked to watch the sunset from the huge balcony in my quarters. The Sun was almost down and I loved the orange it projected onto the sky. Then, I heard someone talking. It was a poem._

 _"_ _Oh, sweet Lucy, your beauty radiates through the stones of you palace,_

 _You are more beautiful than any flower in the kingdom,_

 _A beauty, not even the Veelas can claim,_

 _But please, O Lucy, let me claim you heart."_

 _I looked down and saw it was Pirate Boy who was reciting the love poem._

 _"_ _I'll be right back!" I yelled, for even though it was rude, I needed to see something in the mirror._

 _I ran in front of it and was amazed by what I saw. A girl who resembled me, but her hair was not straight, thin, and short. It was long to her waist and fell in thick curls. Her eyes were not a boring brown anymore, but a beautiful emerald green. Her lips were not pale and thin, but red and full. She was beautiful. She was Lucy._

 _Selene's dream_

 _I was walking down a magnificent palace hall. I knew this hall like the back of my hand, for I had grown up here._

 _Next to me was Susan, holding my hand and giving it a kind squeeze before letting it go. In front of me were Peter, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Pirate Boy, and Eustace._

 _My stomach fluttered. I was incredibly nervous. What if Jo had changed since I last saw him? What if he doesn't remember me? Or simply not recognize me? After all, it had been ten years for him, even though it felt like two to me. Would he be happy to see me? Would he be proud?_

 _The guards, I recognized one of them from my childhood, opened the grand door that led to the throne room._

 _There, Jo sat on a huge gold throne, embedded with jewels. He had grown a beard, but his eyes hadn't changed one bit, they were still the mischievous and kind eyes I'd always known, even though he hadn't seen me yet. To his left sat a woman I recognized as Catherine, only she looked older now. A young boy and girl sat in decorated chars to their parents sides. The boy looked like a mix of Catherine and Jo. The girl looked every bit like me._

 _"_ _I would like to present to you: High King Peter, the Magnificent, of Narnia; Queen Susan, the Gentle, of Narnia; King Edmund, the Just, of Narnia; Queen Lucy, the Valiant, of Narnia; King Caspian, the Tenth, of Narnia; John, Lord of Narnia; Eustace, Lord of Narnia; and Queen Selene of the Amazons!" Jo's eyes widened in surprise when he saw me. Lucy gave me a gentle push and I ran and hugged him. He embraced me back and said:_

 _"_ _Selene, you haven't grown one bit! They told me you were dead, but I didn't believe them, I told them my sister could survive a shipwreck and more! And you're Queen of the Amazons!"_

 _"_ _Yes and all thanks to you, Jo." I said._

 _"_ _Selene?" He started, taking a more serious tone, but he still smiled proudly. "You remembered what I told you, you were brave."_

 _Jack's dream_

 _I was on the ship again, the same one I've been on for the past twelve years._

 _I felt like crying; what a nightmare! All the hard work to get off this ship and away from my uncle were for nothing. Suddenly, a pirate came up to me and said:_

 _"_ _The Captain wants to see yer'." Oh no, Uncle was probably going to punish me or make me clean the ship again. I went to the Capitan's quarters, expecting my uncle to answer the door with a yell as I knocked. The door opened and a man I recognized came out. How could I not recognize him, my worst nightmares and best dreams have his face on them. It might have been seven years since I last saw him, but I could never forget that face; those green eyes and brown hair. Next to him appeared a young woman who looked familiar, but I was positive I'd never seen her before. She had chocolate brown eyes and hot red hair down to her waist._

 _It was my parents._

 _"_ _Hello, son! Ye didn't think we would forget yer birthday, did yer?" Father said. I remembered his strange accent that every pirate seemed to have. Somehow, I'd never talked like that._

 _"_ _Happy birthday, honey." Her voice was smooth, with an accent that was just like mine. Then she gave me a hug. I realized I'd never been hugged before. It felt amazing, I felt loved, something I hadn't felt since Father died._

 _They gave me a box, wrapped in a net and decorated with shells. I undid the net and opened the box. Inside, there was a very handsome set of clothes. It must have been extremely expensive and Mother and Father didn't steal unless it was necessary. That's what I had admired the most about Father._

 _"_ _I invited your friends from Narnia to have a party in this ship. You are to wear these." Mother said. Suddenly I got very excited. I hugged my parents and thanked them._

 _I ran to my quarters to change into my new outfit, thinking about asking Lucy to dance with me. I practiced a few lines in front of the mirror, too. There was a knock on my door and Mother came in._

 _"_ _They've arrived. The party will start now" I followed her to the deck, where the crew, plus the crew of the Dawn Treader, was._

 _My eyes caught on Lucy. She looked beautiful as ever in her new orange gown. Her hair was in a complicated-looking braid down her back. The dance started with some lovely music. I plucked up all my courage and went towards Lucy. Before I could say anything she said:_

 _"_ _Would you like to dance?" I could feel my cheeks going red and felt as if I might faint. I bowed and nodded, taking her hand and leading her to the centre of the ship._

 _She was beautiful, and she looked at me in a way that made me melt. We danced all night, looking into each other's eyes._


	27. Chapter 26

Peter

I woke up feeling proud and accomplished. _Aslan actually told me I'd done a good job!_ He sounded very proud of me, too.

I realized I must have been the first to wake up out of my siblings. I also wondered why I had had such an amazing dream. I decided to ask Susan; she's the smartest of us four.

 _Oh, how I wish that dream was true!_

I could imagine it; Aslan telling me, and all my family was proud and happy.

I heard some noise coming from the hall. I opened the door and bumped into Edmund, who was also trying to get in.

"Hello, Peter. Sleep well?"

"I have, actually. Did you by any chance have some sort of miraculous dream?" Ed looked surprised and said:

"You've had one, too? Mine didn't exactly represent my biggest wish, but it simply showed me things about myself that I hadn't thought about before."

"Mine was different. You see, my dream showed me what I wanted most." At that moment, Lucy came in, smiling.

"Good morning! You won't believe it. I have slept better than ever!" She said.

"Let me guess, nice, beautiful, wish, in the form of a dream?" Ed asked and Lucy nodded. Caspian then came in and told us the same thing. A few seconds later, the door re-opened and Susan came in. She had a dreamy expression on her face and her hand on her stomach like she was in another world.

"Su, are you alright?" Edmund asked, snapping his fingers to get her attention.

"Slept well, My Queen?" Caspian said, beckoning her to sit on his lap. My instinct told me to stop them, but I remembered that he really did love Susan.

"Better than I had in my life." She answered.

"I think we can all agree that we've had the best dreams ever." Selene said.

"Our strongest wishes and desires." I added.

I looked around at everyone's dreamy faces and wondered what dreams they had.

"It must have been the blessing of Aslan." Su realized.

"I don't know about you all, but I want to go to my chambers to think." Edmund proposed.

During the following week, Selene and I talked about Ramandu's Island. I actually found we had a lot in common. I admired her very much, too. She was the only person who could beat me in a fair sword-fighting match and she pushed me to think harder and really, she was shaping me into becoming a better King. She didn't take any nonsense, but she had a nice sense of humour. She was brave and I don't think she'd ever heard of the word "tired". I decided she made an amazing friend; no wonder Susan was her best friend. In fact, she was the only person besides my family I could actually be myself with.

A few days later, I was talking to Caspian and Lucy about the Blue Star and Ramandu's Island when Edmund came in looking very excited.

"We're here! We're in Ramandu's Island!" I ran past him to take a look at it.

It was very peaceful-looking, with a wood and some sort of banquet set on a stone platform on a mountain facing the sea.

We got on the island and decided to head to the banquet table, which must be the Stone Table.

I spotted a star above, very close to the Blue Star. Suddenly, it dropped down and transformed into a man. He had a long, white beard and hair, and had wise grey eyes.

"I am Ramandu, also known as the father of the Blue Star. You can eat from our table if you are tired, but I must warn you; violence is not tolerated in this Island. That is why three of your Lost Lords are now asleep. Your journey beyond this Island should consist of you going to the Dark Island to get the last sword, and then coming back here to lay them at Aslan's Table. After that, you will be on your way home. I must warn you that the closer you get to the Dark Island, the darker your thoughts and dreams will get." He said, and returned to his place in the heavens.

A week passed and during it, I noticed the crew was more tired, Drinian was stricter, and everyone else seemed more tense and angry. My nightmares would worsen each night...


	28. Chapter 27

_Susan's nightmare_

 _I saw Caspian first. I ran to him and started talking, but he didn't seem to hear or see me. I followed his gaze to a beautiful woman. She shined like the brightest of stars, had wise grey eyes, fair skin, smooth rosy lips, and long blonde hair so light it was almost white._

 _The image changed._

 _This time, I saw Caspian talking to her while watching the sunset. When the Sun fully went down, they kissed._

 _I screamed and cried and yelled for Caspian to see me, but I was invisible._

 _The image changed._

 _Now I saw Caspian, standing in the isle in a church. Then, the beautiful woman came out from the doors at the end of the church, wearing white. She and Caspian looked happy as can be as they said their vows and kissed. I sobbed and cried, because that was the expression he used when he looked at me._

 _The image changed and this time, it hurt so much I could tear myself inside out._

 _It was the woman, surrounded by maids, holding hands with Caspian. Her forehead was beaded with sweat and she looked ugly for a change, but then, the maids handed her a bundle._

 _My bundle._

 _The scenery changed completely and I didn't see Caspian or the woman any longer. Instead, I was in a field, with Peter, Lucy, and Edmund._

 _Aslan appeared and started walking towards us. When he was a few meters from us, he started to speak:_

 _"_ _Hello, Kings and Queens of Narnia. Although you have done the country a great service, I must announce that you may not stay here in Narnia."_

 _I broke out into hysterical sobs. My worst fear was Aslan kicking us out._

 _"_ _Do not worry; Caspian will rule it well. You do not belong in this world, so you shall go back to yours. By knowing me better in this world, you will know who I am in the other. Do not give up. I want you to live your normal lives as regular schoolchildren, just with the wisdom of a ruler of Narnia. And most importantly of all: Keep faith."_

 _Caspian's nightmare_

 _I was in a very strange place. There were rows of tall buildings that looked nothing like any other types of architecture I had ever studied. I looked at a door to one of them, which seemed to be attracting me to it. I decided to go ahead and open it._

 _Inside, there was a sort of a narrow hallway with doors on both sides. Suddenly, one of them opened, making me jump. Three kids came out._

 _I recognized them as Peter, Edmund, and Lucy. They couldn't see me, I realized, for they showed no signs of it._

 _"_ _I'm honestly worried about Su." Edmund said._

 _"_ _Say, Peter? Why is Susan acting this strange?" Now I started to get worried myself, but Peter didn't have time to answer because a door slammed open._

 _A woman came out. She looked familiar, but I didn't know anyone who looked like she did. She had curly locks, but her face was full of makeup. Her eyes were surrounded by dark lines with colours in her eyelids. Her lips were painted a strong red and her cheeks were unnaturally rosy. Her dress was only down to her knees and wore a shirt with an extremely low neckline._

 _I had known she was Susan, but she wasn't the Susan I knew. The Susan I know is a Queen that is naturally beautiful, wise, and gentle._

 _"_ _It was about time you all came down; we're going to be late to the party!" She exclaimed. It truly hurt to see her like that._

 _"_ _Su, do you really not remember Narnia?" Lucy asked. My heart broke; what did she mean; not remember Narnia?!_

 _"_ _I told you, Narnia was a children's game. Fauns and Queens and talking lions aren't real! They're a waste of time!" She answered which just took my heart and squeezed it._

 _"_ _Not even Caspian?" Lucy asked softly._

 _"_ _I don't care about your imaginary friends, Lu."_

 _The whole scene dissolved, instead showing me in my throne room, standing in front of a man. I knew the man; he was in my dreams almost every night since I was small._

 _He had brown long hair and a beard, like mine, and brown eyes that I had always thought were where I got mine from, but right now, his seemed so angry I couldn't bear the thought._

 _"_ _You are not my son; you are a coward hidden under the skin of a king. You don't deserve the crown of Narnia any more than my brother. You don't deserve the Queen's love, or her sibling's friendship. You bring dishonour to the crown simply by sitting in your throne! The only thing you ever do is sit around while others die for you! You didn't even do anything with the Kings and Queens of old! You let them do all the work." My father said._

 _All my life I had worked hard to make him proud. So he could look from Aslan's country and be proud that I'm his son. I was shattered into a million pieces when he said:_

 _"_ _I'm very disappointed in you, Caspian."_

 _Peter's nightmare_

 _I was standing in the beautiful island with the walls of blue water and light sand. In front of me was the Great Lion, Aslan. He didn't look quite right, though. He didn't look as marvellous as he always did._

 _"_ _Hello, Peter. I have to inform you that you will be leaving Narnia." A weight dropped on my chest._

 _"_ _But I don't understand, I've done what you wanted."_

 _"_ _No, instead you have brought dishonour to Narnia. You have not made the King I expected you to be. When you left Narnia, you still behaved like a King in your household, being too strict to your siblings. Then you got into fights, hurting people for no reason. When you came back to Narnia, I would have believed you'd be glad. Instead, you were too busy being a jealous child, even ruining your sister, Susan's precious time here." The worst part is, all he said is true._

 _"_ _You have failed me Peter, you are no longer deserving of the crown."_

 _Edmund's nightmare_

 _I found myself in a cave._

 _It looked oddly familiar._

 _It was clearly man-made, with torches lining the straight walls, a passageway, and stone steps that led to some sort of altar. On the altar, there was some sort of stone rectangle. It was empty except for the outlines, which seemed to be decorated with intricate patterns. In the middle of the cave sat a stone table with a knife._

 _I realized why it had looked so familiar before; this is Aslan's How!_

 _I didn't have time to remember much because the ground started shaking._

 _Suddenly, some sort of blue liquid travelled up the empty space in the rectangle until it filled it completely. Then, the liquid turned to ice and the temperature in the cave dropped._

 _I could begin to make out a figure behind the ice. As it came closer, I realized it was the White Witch. I scrambled away from her, tripping clumsily on my feet._

 _"_ _Get away from me!" I said loudly._

 _"_ _My dear Edmund, it's been so long!"_

 _"_ _Why are you alive?" I asked._

 _"_ _I'm not yet alive, Dear Edmund, I still need the blood of a Son of Adam or Daughter of Eve. If you help me, I will give you the last sword."_

 _"_ _How do I know you're telling the truth?" I asked, suspicious._

 _"_ _You don't, but if you don't give me your blood, believe me, it will be impossible to get the sword. If you do, I will come back to life and rule Narnia. I will kill anyone who tries to bring me down, but you and your family and friends will be spared." I thought about it; if I didn't give her my blood, we'd never complete our quest, unable to defeat the mist, maybe dying while trying. If I did, my country would be destroyed, but my family would be spared._

 _I took the knife from the Stone Table and said:_

 _"_ _You promise to keep me and my loved ones alive?"_

 _"_ _You have my word." She answered urgently, somehow breaking the ice with her hand, letting it out._

 _I carved a small cut into my palm and winced at the pain. Then, I held my hand out to her. A drop of blood dropped on her palm, but, satisfied, the Witch took her hand back. The blood disappeared and the ice shattered, letting the Witch out. It was then I knew what a horrible mistake I'd made._

 _She laughed loudly, which made my blood freeze._

 _"_ _Foolish boy! Did you really think I would keep my promise?!" Peter appeared in the passageway. I was about to yell for him, but his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground; dead._

 _Lucy's nightmare_

 _I didn't know where I was. It looked like some sort of snow-covered wood. It wasn't part of Narnia that I knew, though._

 _Suddenly, I saw a young man stepping in from behind a tree. I recognized him as Pirate Boy. He didn't look completely like Pirate Boy, though. He was more handsome, yet a lot more evil-looking._

 _"_ _Pirate Boy!" I called out. He smiled an unnatural half-smile and then said:_

 _"_ _Hello, Lucy." It didn't sound much like him, either. "Poor, poor, Lucy; always second best. The youngest of four, always underestimated by her siblings. You're not strong, like Peter, not reasonable, like Edmund, and, oh, certainly not beautiful like Susan." My heart broke when I heard him say that. I'd always known I wasn't beautiful, but it sounded so much worse coming from Pirate Boy's mouth. "You know, your mother and father were very disappointed when you turned out so ugly. No wonder no one likes you. Caspian only puts up with you because you're Susan's little sister, Selene simply feels too bad to tell you how annoying you are, Eustace actually does it right; sowing you how horrible you truly are. You are an added load to a great team."_

 _"_ _That-that's not true." I said, although I knew I was lying._

 _"_ _You can't even recognize it! Pity." He said, then vanished, leaving me alone in the cold._

 _Selene's nightmare_

 _I was in the palace hall, about to come into the throne room._

 _In the throne room, I found Jo and Catherine, looking at me with an expression that chilled me to the bone._

 _"_ _Selena." Jo said. "I didn't expect you to be alive." He added, as if he'd resented me for living._

 _"_ _I've come to see you, Jo." I said._

 _"_ _Don't call me that. That was the name my sister used to call me. You are not my sister. You killed all of my friends, everyone I had trusted. All I ever did to you was try to save you from fate, but it seems you didn't care. You crashed my ship then jumped off like a coward! Then, you went to the Amazons and didn't think about it twice! I gave up so much for you, and the best you can do is act scared!"_

 _"_ _But Jo!" I said._

 _"_ _Don't call me that!" He yelled. Then he composed himself and, in a cool voice, said:_

 _"_ _You are no longer my sister."_

 _Suddenly, the whole scene dissolved, and I found myself in the palace church, standing on the aisle. There was a cloth preventing me from talking. I looked down and saw I was wearing a white dress, with chains wrapped around it. I had a shackle on my foot so I couldn't move._

 _The doors opened and a man I only barely recognized as Wulfrick came in. He was wearing fancy clothes and an evil smirk on his face._

 _He finally reached me and at that point I was horrified because I knew what was going to happen next._

 _I saw a bishop behind me, only furthering my terrible theory._

 _"_ _We are all here today to celebrate King Wulfrick and Princess Selena's matrimony…"_

 _"_ _Skip that part and just marry us!" Wulfrick said rudely._

 _"_ _Do you, Queen Selena, take-" I shook my head as fast as I could until I got dizzy, but the bishop barely registered it._

 _"_ _Skip that!" Wulfrick yelled. "Just pronounce us man and wife!"_

 _"_ _As of today, you are man and wife."_

 _Pirate Boy's nightmare_

 _I was back on the ship, tied to the mast. My uncle stood looming over me with an amused expression on his face._

 _"_ _My poor John, did you really think you could get away? Well, you're about to pay the price." I filled with fear, because I knew my uncle and if there's one thing he is, he's unforgiving._

 _I had imagined my punishment would be to walk the plank, especially because I was facing it, but it was much worse._

 _"_ _Bring in the first one!" Uncle ordered. The door to the control room opened and Caspian fell out, his hands tied behind his back. The pirates pushed him forward, with him yelling horrible things at them. They led him to the plank and one of them said:_

 _"_ _It's his fault you're here." Then he pointed at me._

 _Caspian didn't seem to believe it, and then he thought better of it._

 _"_ _I trusted you!" He yelled, and then they pushed him overboard. Next came out Peter, whom before death said:_

 _"_ _I knew you were just a rotten pirate underneath that soft cover."_

 _Then it was Susan, who without saying anything, jumped off the ship at her own accord._

 _Then came Edmund, who simply shook his head, looking very disappointed._

 _Selene was next, freeing herself from the guards for long enough to slap me across the face. But it was Lucy who hurt the most._

 _"_ _I hate you! I loathe you more than anything! I thought I could trust you!" She screamed a look of absolute hate on her face. Lucy hated me. I had nothing to live for. My uncle_ _released_ _me, knowing the job was done._

 _So I jumped overboard._


	29. Chapter 28

Susan

I was shaken awake by a very alarmed-looking Peter.

"Rilian! No! She took him! She took my Rilian!" I yelled, looking around the room, hoping I would find Rilian.

At that moment, Caspian came in the room in a rush. He ran towards me, probably to comfort me, but I was still full of rage. He had married the woman and loved her, even though I thought he would only love me.

"Get away from me!" I yelled at him. He looked very hurt, but he deserved it. He left and I realized it had all been a dream.

I wanted to apologize, but I simply couldn't. Some part of me was still angry and hurt and until that passed, I wouldn't be ready to see him.

"What was that, Su?!" Peter said angrily. I started crying, trying to stop myself then crying all the more because I couldn't.

"I'm sorry. I-I just had a nightmare. He was in it an-and…"

"It's alright, Su." Peter said, interrupting me.

"Peter, I don't want to go back to England." I whispered when the tears had stopped.

He seemed to understand that was part of my dream because he nodded sadly.

"You're not the only one with nightmares, you know, Su."

I looked up, confused.

"You've had them, too?"

"Yes, in fact I was lucky; I woke up first. A few seconds later, I heard you screaming. Apparently so did Caspian. Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" I nodded, thinking that Peter was the only person I could confide in in this situation; at least about a part of it.

"Well, I was in some sort of field, you were there, and Lucy and Edmund were, too. Aslan came to us and told us that we had to go back to England. He told us that Caspian would rule it well and that we didn't belong. He said he wanted us to be regular schoolchildren. Then-then he told us to keep faith." Peter looked very sympathetic, and then he said:

"Well, I was in some sort of island, and Aslan was there. He looked sort of different; a lot more intimidating and scary. Anyway, he told me I was a disgrace." He looked down, ashamed. I was about to comfort him when we heard shouts. They were coming from Selene's room.

Peter and I opened the door to find Selene, still asleep, twisting and turning while screaming.

"No! No! Please!" She yelled. Peter was the first to react, waking her up quickly. She woke with one last scream; her nightmares must have been truly horrible, _but, weren't all of ours?_

"Selene, so you want us to leave?" I asked her. Knowing Selene, I knew she probably needed space. She nodded and we moved on.

As we went into the hallway, I saw a blur of red and suddenly, Lucy was holding on tight to Peter.

"Did you have a nightmare, Lu?" He asked.

"Oh, Peter it was horrible! And don't even ask me to tell you about it because I won't." Lucy said. The nightmare didn't look like it had scared her, more like psychological damage.

"Let's go see if Ed's up." I suggested.

"I don't think we need to, look!" Peter said, pointing at Caspian, Pirate Boy, and Edmund, who were coming down the hall. Edmund looked very self-disgusted, and I had a feeling I knew exactly what he'd dreamt about. The White Witch.

Pirate Boy looked very self-disappointed, too, and I wondered why. I didn't know him long enough to know, exactly, but I'm sure it had concerned Lucy.

"Morning, everyone," Peter said. "I'm not even going to bother saying good morning, for I can see it isn't a good morning for any of us."

Caspian looked at me, and I felt a twinge of anger. I still wanted nothing to do with Caspian. I was about to excuse myself when Brian came, looking slightly shaken.

"We have spotted the Dark Island." He said. I got my bow and arrows and headed out. On deck, I saw Eustace flying along with us, and Devon, who upon seeing Caspian ran to hug him.

"Oh, Caspian, you don't know about the horrible nightmares I've had!" She said, seemingly unfazed by the fact that we were a few minutes away from the darkness that surrounded the island.

"I'm afraid we all do." He said, looking at me while gently separating her from him. "Besides, he have more pressing matters to discuss and, Devon, I'm honestly tired of you not taking things seriously." She looked offended, then she turned around and took her bow, her cheeks flaming.

Then the darkness swallowed us whole, and I could see nothing that wasn't a meter in front of me, thanks to the ship torches.

Suddenly, I saw Caspian in front of me, but he was holding hands with another woman. The blonde one I had dreamed about. She was holding a baby.

"No!" I shouted. Then Caspian spoke:

"Poor Susan, did you really think my love would extend to you forever?" And he laughed. Behind him, Aslan appeared.

"Susan Pevensie, look what happened when you left Narnia. Tsk-tsk."

I screamed some more.

"Did you really think that Caspian would prefer you over me?" Now she laughed, with Caspian joining in. I started backing up from them. I bumped into something and nearly died from fright. I whirled around to find Caspian -the real Caspian- looking at me.

I threw myself into his arms, grabbing his shirt and holing on. Because he was real. Because he was there for me when I didn't deserve it. Because he was my beacon of hope in a dark world.


	30. Chapter 29

Edmund

We had just entered the darkness of the island. My heart beat fast, not letting me think straight. Then I heard a scream.

I turned to find Susan screaming her heart out. I couldn't see what was hurting her so, but at that moment Lucy started crying and Peter dropped on his knees, crying too. Suddenly, a woman appeared before me. She had cold blue eyes and blonde hair. It was the White Witch. "Hello, Dear Edmund. We meet again." She smiled, which made me feel attracted to her, which made me hate myself.

"Come on Edmund. You could be my King. No Peter or Caspian, trying to rule you." I realized I wanted that; to be King without feeling like I was being stepped on. Then I looked at Caspian, with a very vulnerable expression as he looked at something that wasn't there. He backed up, bumping into Susan. I looked at Peter, who was crying on his knees, saying "Edmund!", "Susan!", "Peter!", "Selene!" I guessed he might be seeing our dead bodies, same as I was seeing the White Witch. Which meant she wasn't real.

Now that I was no longer afraid of her, I had to help the rest.

"Peter, I'm all right. All of us are!" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He stopped crying and looked up. Peter never cried, not when we left Narnia, not when he was told he wouldn't come back, and not when we were taken by the slave traders. But he was crying now.

"It's just the Mist, Pete; it's playing with our minds." I told him. He wiped his tears away and said:

"Well then we have to help the others." Well, that was Peter. He always put his own worries aside to help others. A quality I don't possess.

We went, helping one by one. When finally each sailor was free from his trance, we heard shouts.

"Please save me! Help! Over here!" I could barely make out a mountain protruding from the water that we were going to sail past. What had appeared a rock was now moving.

Drinian lowered the elevator and he climbed in, wielding a sword. It was one of the Seven Lost Swords.

"Are you a Lord of Narnia?" Caspian asked.

"Yes! But there's time for that later! Now, we have to get out of here!" He looked desperate and tortured.

"You heard him, Drinian, turn the ship around." Caspian ordered.

"Don't think! This is the island of dreams! And not the pretty daydreams you're all thinking about, but real nightmares." I remembered the sea monster I sometimes had dreams about, realizing too late what it meant.

"Oh, no." I said, looking at the ocean. I could see the monster coming towards us. Peter saw it next.

"Man your weapons!" He ordered.

I quickly grabbed a sword, just in time to see the monster face-to-face.

It was huge, with teeth as big as me and spikes all over its body. It has twice the ship's size, maybe more.

I tried to stab it, but it was impossible. Susan and Devon shot arrows at it, but they bounced off. Think, Edmund, think. How can we kill it?

I thought about what weak points it could possibly have. It opened its huge mouth and it hit me; we could stab it in the mouth. The yelling was too loud for me to communicate this to Susan. I had to take matters into my own hands. I climbed to the dragon figurehead that was just at the level of the monster's head. The sea monster was looking down, about to eat Lucy. I quickly grabbed my sword, blood roaring in my ears. I held it out to the monster as I yelled:

"Over here!" The monster turned, and when I saw those huge teeth coming at me I knew this was the end.

I apologized to Lucy for having been so horrid to her when we were young and for betraying her for the White Witch.

I apologized to Peter, whom I had always disobeyed, even though now I knew that it was for my own good.

I apologized to Susan because I had thought she was weak and too smart for her own good.

I apologized to Caspian for having thought his love was fake.

My last sight would be the monster's massive teeth.

Or so I thought. The moment the monster was about to eat me, I plunged the sword through its mouth. It flew back, clearly hurt.

It had released its grip on the ship and was now twitching in the water. This didn't last for long, though. I had hurt it badly, but we still needed someone to deliver the deathblow.

Out of nowhere, Eustace the dragon came out at it. It bit the monster in the neck, which finally brought him down. The monster fell into the depths as we all cheered for Eustace.

"Ah! Dragon!" Someone yelled. The next thing I knew, there was a sword protruding from Eustace's chest. He fell to the water, dead.

I couldn't believe it. Poor Eustace, he was still so young. And now, he wasn't as rotten as he used to be. He never even had a chance to enjoy Narnia. And if he'd been rotten before it was only because of his parents and how they'd treated him.

I looked around at the others. Lucy was crying, Susan was crying into Caspian's chest, and Peter was looking sadly at the water.

Suddenly the ship took a sharp turn. I looked at the steering wheel and saw the Lord, madly turning the ship. Apparently, it was him who'd murdered Eustace. I charged to pull him off the steering wheel, but Selene beat me to it. She pushed him off with difficulties and when he let go, they wrestled in the ground. In a second, though, Selene had him pinned down. Peter had to separate them and tie the Lord's hands to the badly damaged mast.

"This is only until we get out of here." Caspian explained.

"The question is; how are we going to get out of here?" I asked.

At that moment, I saw a hole in the dark clouds overhead that let in light, illuminating the ship. A beautiful bird flew out and wherever it went, the clouds cleared over it until there was no more Dark Island. It had disappeared.


	31. Chapter 30

Lucy

It was the night we left the Dark Island. I was in my room, trying to sleep. But I couldn't because I was thinking about how Pirate Boy had told me I wasn't beautiful. I remembered that amazing dream in which he'd read that poem to me. If only there was a way to be as beautiful as Susan, everyone would like me then.

I suddenly remembered Coriakin's book and knew that there was a way. I scrambled to the drawer where I kept the spell.

I smoothed out the page when I got it and read out loud:

An infallible spell to make you she; the beauty you've always wanted to be.

I chanted the spell and was getting worried it might not work at the final lines:

Make me she, whom I'd agree, holds more beauty over me.

But it had to work. I ran to the mirror I kept in my room and looked. Sure enough, I was Susan. I touched my face to make sure it was her face and not just some trick. Instead of finding my usual thin lips, I found full ones.

Suddenly, the mirror changed into a door.

Curiosity got the better of me and I stepped in.

It was a party held outside. I could see Peter and Edmund, who came towards me when they saw me. They laced their arms through mine one both sides and started walking.

"May I say, you look absolutely beautiful, dear sister?" Edmund said.

"As always." Peter added. I was so happy, my brothers actually told me I'm beautiful and meant it.

A man stepped in front of us and said:

"Please a family picture with your lovely sister!" He took position and started clicking.

"Mother's going to love that." Peter said. Finally, the man was done and I realized I wasn't in it, well, Lucy wasn't.

"Hold on, Peter, what about Lucy?" He looked confused.

"Who's Lucy?" He asked, now sounding a bit worried.

"I really think we should go back." Honestly, I wanted to be beautiful, but not cease to exist. Besides, if I was in Susan's body, Susan didn't exist and I loved my sister more than anything.

"Go back where?" Edmund asked. The answer was obvious.

"To Narnia!"

"What on Earth is Narnia?" Peter asked. Oh no, why don't they know what Narnia is? Maybe I can't ever go back now!

"Susan, I think you've hit your head."

"No!" I yelled. "I don't want this anymore!"

Suddenly, I was back in my quarters.

"Lucy." A voice I knew said.

"Aslan?"

"Lucy, what have you done?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"You see, when you became Susan, everything changed. Lucy had never existed, and you were the one to have found Narnia. They couldn't have done it without you. Susan would never have met Caspian, neither would you have met Pirate Boy, Selene, Reepicheep, or Trumpkin, in fact, you wouldn't know me by my real name."

"Oh no, will everything be back to normal now?"

"Yes, Dear One." I sighed in relief. "I will be going now. Go to sleep."

Suddenly, my eyelids were heavy. I walked over to the bed as if in a trance, sleep weighing on me.

As soon as my head touched the pillow I went out.

For once in a long time, I had a peaceful sleep devoid of nightmares.

I was awakened by music. I quickly got dressed in my favourite orange dress; the one I'd bought in Calormen.

I hurried upstairs to find a party. Everyone was dancing happily, celebrating our defeat of the Mist.

I looked around; seeing everyone's dancing partners. Peter was dancing formally with Selene, who was actually wearing a dress. I realized I'd never seen Selene in a dress, she'd always worn pants. Now that she did, she was wearing a very simple one, probably borrowed it from Susan. She didn't look like herself, but she was beautiful nonetheless.

Susan was lost in Caspian's eyes and they seemed to be dancing perfectly as one, like pieces of a puzzle. She was looking marvellous in her favourite cerulean dress.

Edmund was not looking very interested in dancing, although he was dancing with Ari, who didn't seem to be enjoying it, either.

I noticed Pirate Boy was sitting alone at the side of the ship, tying knots. I really wanted to dance with him. If the events of last night had taught me that I am beautiful and necessary and it was wrong to feel any other way. You know, maybe Pirate Boy did like me; maybe he knew that what matters is the beauty within. I walked towards him and asked:

"Would you like to dance?" I smiled down at him. He looked surprised and at a loss of words and my heart sank; what if he didn't like me? What if he thought I wasn't worth it? But no, I had to be confident. He got up and took my hand, leading me to the centre.

We danced for a while, I lost track of time. All I could think about was his smile and eyes. I think I just found out what it felt like to be in love.

Suddenly, we heard shouts. Shouts of distress coming from the sea. I looked overboard and saw a dozen boats, coming towards us, each filled with people. There were enough people to make an army and they all looked desperate.

There was a woman in the front of the first boat that looked familiar. I knew it was Helene, Gael's mother.

"Mommy!" Gael shouted, diving into the water. I was very worried and was about to jump after her when I saw her father diving, too. I realized I was still holding Pirate Boy's hand. Instead of letting it go, I gave it a kind squeeze. He looked up at me and smiled.


	32. Chapter 31

Selene

We had just left the Dark Island and were cheering. I would feel like celebrating, even if I had just seen a Mist version of John yelling at me. The only thing that held me back was Peter's reaction to the Mist. He had fallen on his knees and started crying. I had seen Peter crying before; he usually went to me when he was sad, but not as much as he had then. He'd told me what his nightmare had been, the one he had had the night of mine. The Mist didn't transform into it, though. It transformed into the dead bodies of his friends and family.

Nevertheless, I was glad to be away.

"Sele, they are having a dance to celebrate! Get ready, it starts in half an hour." Susan told me, she looked very excited, probably because of Caspian. I didn't really love dances. I wasn't the type of person whose blood quickened during a dance, mine rushed during a fight. I went to change anyway, into a simple grey dress, like the moon. Susan had given it to me, saying that it looked great on me.

"Hey, Sele, can I do your hair?" Susan asked, coming into my room. I could see that she was ready. She was wearing a blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly and her hair was in some sort of bun with curls coming down wildly. She looked beautiful, but I didn't care for beauty.

"Sure, Su." She finally agreed to make my hair a braid crown at the top of my head after I refused to let it down.

We went to the dock a few minutes later, where the dance was supposed to be held. Peter, being High King, would start the dance. Everyone else would follow. The music was about to start. Peter came towards me and my heart started beating so fast, I thought it would run out of my chest. I didn't understand why, I'd never felt it before. Besides, it's not as if anything had changed, I had seen, held hands with, and even hugged Peter before. He bowed and I curtseyed in return. He looked so handsome in the bright Sun. _Stop thinking like that!_ I told myself. _What is wrong with me?_

"Would you care to join me in a dance?" He asked formally.

"Of course." I said, and took his hand into the dance floor.

There was this odd feeling in my stomach, like something was moving in it. I didn't know why, but I couldn't stop myself from enjoying this moment. We danced formally, very standard, setting an example. After all: isn't that what Kings are supposed to do?

The music took on a happier note; one that required many twirls and dips. We danced along with the music, smiling. He would twirl me several times, making me dizzy. But we were having fun. He was smiling, at some points laughing, too, the happiness leaking into his eyes. I loved spinning so fast, seeing all the colours and lights blurred into one big beautiful mass. My dress would blow with the wind and quick movements. Strands of hair came loose once in a while, but I hadn't had so much fun before.

He would lift me up in his strong arms, the ones that had found no match until I came along. Finally, in the finale, he dipped me so low I could see the feet of the others at eye-level.

After the dance ended, we all went back to our quarters. I went into mine and crashed on the bed. I was so tired, my feet hurt, and my legs burned, but I was finally happy.

I went to sleep happy, and I woke up happy.

I changed after realizing I had gone to sleep with last night's dress. I changed then went on deck to find Caspian.

"Good morning, Caspian." I greeted him.

"Good morning, Selene." He answered. "Did you have fun last night?"

"Yes, more fun than I've had in a while." I said, smiling.

"Can you do something for me?" I nodded then he added: "Can you ask Susan if she had fun? I hand-picked the decorations according to her taste. I was wondering if she noticed." That was sweet of him.

"Of course, Caspian." I said. Caspian turned to look at the sea and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Selene, please go get everyone."

They all went on deck, looking startled.

There was an island in the horizon. It was surrounded by dark clouds and had a palace on top of a mountain. The rocky land was covered in snow.

Suddenly, Pirate Boy's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground. Lucy screamed and Ariane ran to him, checking his pulse.

"He's alive, but we need help."

"We should ask whoever lives in that island to help us." Devon suggested, twirling a strand of her hair. I wanted to disagree, but I simply couldn't, she, for once, was right.

"I suppose we must. We will arrive there in several hours still." Caspian said. "Everyone go to your quarters and get some sleep, it's still early. He put his arm around Susan and led her downstairs.

There was something about that island, though. It chilled me down to the bone. It was so sinister, I was terribly afraid. It made my blood freeze and I wanted to scream.

One of my weaknesses, I realized, was not knowing how to deal with fear. I don't feel it often at all, but this, this wasn't fear. This was terror. Terror that made me want to crawl in my bed and cry.

I knew someone who could help me, though.

I went below deck, my legs shaking. I opened the door to a room. I realized this wasn't the room I had in mind. I had wanted to talk to Susan, but my feet had led me to Peter's. I saw him sitting on his bed.

"Sorry to bother you, Peter, it's just…"

"It's all right, Selene. You have nothing to worry about." He said kindly, inviting me to sit next to him.

I realized that telling Peter how scared I was wasn't being brave, as Jo had told me. But I was tired, tired of holding it all in for eighteen years, tired of seeming strong when I was falling, tired of helping others when I was the one damaged beyond repair.

"I'm scared."

Peter looked genuinely surprised. I realized he probably thought that I was fearless, like everyone else.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"I've never heard you use the word "scared". I was waiting to see if you were like I thought you were, a regular human being, or if you were the fearless girl everyone thinks you are. Selene, it's all right to be scared. Everyone is." I choked on tears and they flooded out. I realized I hadn't cried since I was around five. I had forgotten what it felt like. Peter took me in his arms like I'd seen him do with Lucy and Caspian with Susan when they were sad. No one had ever held me like that other than Jo. I had forgotten what that felt like, too. It felt good, like I didn't have to be the one giving. I was finally cared for one hundred percent, not fifty-fifty, like with Su, or zero like with the rest of the world.

I cried for all those held back feelings I've had for so long; of regret, longing, and hurt. I cried for the fear I hadn't realized I'd felt my whole life. I cried for all those tears I hadn't shed over the years.

Jo would be proud.

I accidentally fell asleep in Peter's arms. When I woke up, my cheeks were dry and I was in my quarters. Maybe I'd dreamed it. But then Susan came charging into my room.

"We're here." She said hurriedly. "We have no time to waste! Pirate Boy's still unconscious and Lucy is worried sick!" I followed her as we went up the stairs. Sure enough, we had docked in that strange island. My knees shook, and suddenly there was a hand in mine, giving it a comforting squeeze.

Caspian had just kissed Susan's head, a sign of how much they love one another. I realized I would never love anyone like they loved each other. After all, love is for those wanting pain. Love is useless. I could never hurt anyone with my love. After all, I'd always known: _to love is to destroy._

We went into the island and I was thankful for Peter's hand. It was freezing here, the land was all covered in a thick layer of snow and it had a few mountains.

Susan, Peter, Lucy, Edmund, Devon, Caspian, and I walked for hours, going towards the castle on the mountain. Edmund was carrying Pirate Boy and Lucy was leading us.

We came to a stop in front of the terrifying castle, opening the doors.


	33. Chapter 32

Peter

We stepped onto the cold snow of the island. I gave Selene's hand a comforting squeeze then let go, knowing she wasn't the type that looks for public comfort. I remembered our talk, though. How she'd cried like she'd never cried before. She probably hadn't. I knew how it was, trying to be strong for everyone else when you were breaking inside. I at least had my siblings; Selene was alone. She'd never admitted she was scared to anyone before, not even Susan. I felt ashamed, all this time I'd been thinking about how miserable my life had been when she'd been through worse circumstances. Now was not the time to think about it, though. The island truly sent chills through me and not just because the temperature had dropped to below freezing. The climb to the castle was long and hard. Devon was again complaining loudly to Caspian, as usual. Surprisingly, it was Lucy who snapped.

"Shut up, Devon! Just shut up! Pirate Boy is dying and all you can do is try to woo Caspian even though he will never be wooed by such a horrid creature like you!" She ran ahead of us, probably crying. Susan ran to comfort her, shooting a death stare at Devon, who merely shrugged and took Caspian's arm. He shook her off and went to Lucy.

We finally reached the palace, which was even colder and scarier in person. The massive doors were open, as if welcoming us in. Inside, the palace looked elegant, but very sinister. There was another set of doors in the end of the hall. We opened them and gasped in surprise, because in it was the White Witch.

"Hello, children. I was expecting you. Don't look at me like that, Dear Edmund, we're friends. Oh, please, don't bother being so high and mighty with me, Peter. We all know you're not really that way. And who are your new friends?"

"What do you want?!" Edmund asked.

"Oh, you had a lot more manners the last time I saw you, Edmund. Present me to your friends, tell me how Narnia is doing, perhaps, then I will tell you what I want."

"Fine. I am Queen Selene of the Amazons." Said Selene, stepping forward. All the fear she had shown before was gone now, replaced by inspiring bravery. "These are: Devon, that's the blonde one over there, and Jack, the boy Edmund's carrying."

"All right. Well, I want to destroy you once and for all. You will have to fight me in battle. There's a spell around my island so you can't leave unless someone very special dies. I'm obviously not going to tell you who. It's not important. As long as they are alive, you are trapped. If you don't fight me I'll kill you. If you win, which is impossible, you will leave, if you lose, well, I'll kill you. The battle will start tomorrow at sunrise." I was too stunned to speak. We didn't even have an army or weapons. "You may go now." She said, which was more like a command than an invite. We turned to leave, knowing there was nothing we could do. We went back to the ship, terrified and sad.

Without wasting time, we started planning for the battle.

"I bring grave news, worse than you can imagine. The White Witch, Jadis, lives in that castle. We are trapped here until we battle her and win. I will only take volunteers to fight in this battle." I said. All the crew members, plus most of the people we rescued from the Mist raised their hands to fight; among them were Drinian, Gael's father, and Reep. We just needed weapons and a plan. "Brian, Susan, Edmund, Drinian, Selene, Reep, Caspian, Lucy, follow me, please. We need to make a plan." We went to the Map Room and gathered around the table at the centre.

"Any ideas?" Caspian asked.

"I've got one." Brian said. He always had good ideas. "We should separate into four groups so that they can attack the Witch from all sides. These should be led by Peter, Selene, Edmund, and Lucy. Susan will lead the line of archers that will be on the top of one of the mountains." It was actually a brilliant idea, and yet it was so obvious I was surprised I hadn't thought about it.

"Great idea Brian." Susan said.

"Now we just need the weapons." I told them.

"True. I want everyone to look around the ship for weapons. Return here with what you've found." Caspian ordered. We scattered, looking for swords, bows, knives, axes, anything that could be used at war.

A few minutes later, I was holding five bows, ten daggers, and twelve swords. Suddenly, I heard Lucy calling us:

"Come, everyone! Look what I've found!" I hurried to where her voice was coming from. She turned out to be in a cupboard, surrounded by hundreds of weapons.

"What is it with you and storage places?!" I joked, seeing the amount of weapons that could easily suit our small army.

"Well done, Lu!" Susan congratulated her. "Now we need to tell the plan to the crew. Then give them their respective weapons and break them into groups." She added.

We told the plan to them. Everyone thought it was a good idea and agreed to take a side.

We dismissed them so they could sleep, but putting people on guard in case the Witch decided to attack us.

I could hardly sleep because I kept replaying all our encounters with the Witch in my mind. All too soon, it was time.

I went upstairs, too upset to be tired. Everyone was already there, putting on their armour. Susan was helping Caspian with his and I could tell she was trying hard not to cry. I put mine on, knowing I would be leading the group that would face the Witch face-on. The Sun was about to come out, and it was time to say goodbye. This battle would be hard; harder than any before. Many of us would probably die in it. I hugged Susan, looking into the cerulean eyes I had known all my life that I may never see again. I hugged Edmund, knowing how lucky I'd been to get him as a brother. I hugged Lucy, feeling her fiery red hair that I had seen every day for so long. I hugged Caspian, too, knowing that if I didn't make it out, he would take care of them all. Finally, I hugged Selene. My one true best friend that I'd been able to be myself with. For some reason, I couldn't let her go. And then I knew, all too late, why.

 _I love her._

 _How had I not seen it before?_ She had the fiercest eyes in the world, the hardest stare, the toughest skin, the worst attitude. And I loved it all.

I knew, then, how Susan had felt the day she'd left Narnia. I knew now why she'd cried so much. I had always known why, but it was a million times worse in her position.

I finally detached myself from her, and then turned around to leave, not looking back.

I was determined to fight, but if I died, I would try to see her face last, the face that gave me courage.

Soon, I was on a horse, one that we had found magically in the ship, which could only be Aslan's work. Everyone in my group was behind me. I could see Susan and her archers if I looked up to the mountain. I knew that everybody else's groups were hidden far away, waiting to attack.

Then I was the Witch. She was on a carriage, pulled by powerful deer. Tons of trolls, dwarfs, and all sorts of magical creatures followed her. She stopped far in front of us. I waited for a second, and then yelled:

"For Narnia!"

My army surged forward, and I broke through her lines while she stayed away from the battle. I killed everything that crossed my path; dwarves, giants, and more. At one point, my horse was killed and I had to continue on foot. Not that it mattered; I was still fighting as well as before.

I killed an elf, and then turned around to find a dwarf with a sword in his moving hand.

I felt a huge burst of pain in my stomach. I saw my warrior queen. Then, everything went black.


	34. Chapter 33

Selene

I hugged Susan, maybe for the last time. She was my best friend. The first true friend I'd had in my life –that wasn't related to me-.

I hugged her siblings, whom had been like siblings of my own.

Finally, I hugged Peter, the only person who had truly made me feel good about myself. Like I was worth caring about. For some strange reason, I didn't want to let go.

When I did, I turned and left to the battlefield. I led my group to a cave, not far from the frozen meadow where the fight would take place.

We waited, and then we heard it, the battle cry that meant that we were to charge.

"For Narnia!" I yelled, then my horse went upright than charged towards the battle. Everyone followed. We took the Witch's army by surprise. I fought hard, defeating every opponent. I had never seen any dwarves or elves or fairies before. They were no match for me, though. I slashed through their bodies like they were made of clay. I yelled, scaring and intimidating them.

It was fun.

At least until I looked to Peter's flank. I was in time to see him fall, clutching his stomach where a dwarf was pulling out his sword.

I realized how stupid I'd been, how utterly stupid.

 _Because love is worth fighting for._

I was supposed to lead my little army, but I didn't care about them anymore. All I cared about was that the person that had helped me, comforted me, and respected, me was dying. He was the only man I had ever felt safe around, the only one who I wouldn't be afraid to marry.

I charged.

I cut the dwarf that had stabbed my Peter in half. I got off the horse and hid Peter so no one would harm him, and then I jumped back on the horse. I spotted who I wanted and went to her.

"Lucy! Healing Cordial! Now!" I yelled at her. She stabbed the person she was fighting.

"Why?" She asked. I didn't have time for this.

"Now!" She tossed me the vial and I was already on my horse, forcing it to run faster. Suddenly, an elf appeared out of nowhere and stabbed it. I jumped off the horse, doing a flip in mid-air, taking the elf's head with me. I found Peter right where I left him, still unconscious. I opened his mouth and he opened his eyes a bit.

"Selene?" I nodded hurriedly.

"Drink." I commanded him. He swallowed the potion I gave him. The effects were immediate. The colour was back in his face and although I couldn't see his wound I was sure it was healing. Soon, he got up and took my hand in his, a sword in the other. And we ran into the battle, fighting as one.

I knew Jo would be proud, because I had lived up to his words:

 _Be brave._


	35. Chapter 34

Caspian

Susan was scared, I could tell. But she didn't show it. Her hands were still and her posture was perfect, but I knew her well enough to know that she was too rigid, and her hands would twitch once in a while, showing her efforts to hide their trembling. _My poor Susan._

I might die in this war, so might she. We were hugging goodbye now. I couldn't let go. I smelled her hair, which after all those days at sea smelled like salty breeze. I traced the lips I had kissed so many times and kissed them once more. It would never get boring.

I loved her so much. We had been through everything together. And she could be easily taken away from me, as fast as an enemy's arrow.

Then it was time to part. I kissed once more, this one was sweet and soft and full of longing. Like the one she gave when she left Narnia.

I went to one side of the battlefield, hiding my group in the forest. We waited for half an hour until we heard Peter yell: For Narnia!

I charged my troop behind me.

"For Narnia!"

The first monster I encountered was a fairy warrior. He wasn't like the fairies in Narnia; mischievous but ever-kind small winged people. No. This fairy was my size, with full-body armour and red skin with flame designs. He could shoot fire.

I fought him, ducking under his fire. I stabbed him and moved on to the next. This one was a black-bearded dwarf. I easily stabbed him, too. I heard a huge _thud_ right behind me and I almost die of fright. I turned around to find the body of a troll, club in hand, and a red arrow on his back.

 _Susan_. Like everything else, we would go through this together. I looked to her mountain in time to see her shoot an arrow. She was concentrated in shooting, in position and determined. My warrior queen.

I turned around and re-joined the fight, every once in a while, when things got too close, my enemy would fall with an arrow in his back. I looked and saw Edmund fighting three fairies.

I stabbed one and started fighting the other, allowing Edmund to kill the third. The fairy that I was fighting was one of the fire-spewing ones. It got me in the arm.

A burning sensation crawled from my fingertips to my shoulder. I dropped my sword from the pain. Luckily, Edmund killed the fairy I was battling, but I wondered why Susan hadn't shot it down.

I looked up at the mountain for her, but she wasn't there. I was worried so much I forgot about the pain.

I turned at look at the woods and caught a glimpse of red armour. I ran to her. I could see the bow strapped to her back and her long black hair flying after her.

I followed her to the castle.

I knew as long as I lived, nothing bad would happen to her.


	36. Chapter 35

Susan

I felt his soft hair, and hugged his strong chest. He traced his soft fingers over my lips, leaving a soft trace of his warmth lingering on them. Then he kissed me, a long kiss, full of pain and sadness.

We separated and finally departed, going our separate ways.

I climbed the mountain and lined up my archers. Below, I could see Peter and his group stand still. On the other side of the battlefield, I saw the White Witch come forth on a chariot. Behind her were creatures of all sort, trolls, giants, dwarves, fairies, even elves. They were all slightly different from the Narnian version of each creature. The fairies were a lot bigger and devoid of wings. Some of them had patterns on their skin of ice or fire. The elves weren't green, but red, an evil colour. Even the dwarves looked scarier.

Peter charged.

"Archers to the ready!" I shouted. "Pick your target! Shoot!"

We shot a volley of arrows to the enemy, killing many of them.

Then the other groups appeared, surprising the Witch and her troops. It had been a truly good strategy.

I spotted a horse going upright with someone with a sword on top and a silky amount of brown hair. Caspian. He was doing fine, for now, simply battling a dwarf. I checked for Lucy, who was doing well, too. But then I saw Peter. He was down. I worried for nothing, though, for the next moment I saw Selene hiding him. I turned my attention back to Caspian.

He had just killed a fairy, but there was a troll behind him, about to crush him. My heart sped up and I sent my arrow flying. He turned around, clearly startled. He saw my arrow and looked up. It was incredible that after all those times we'd kissed, that my stomach still churned when he looked at me.

For the rest of the battle, I concentrated on Caspian, keeping enemies off him.

I saw a flash of gold in a faraway wood and recognized Devon, running away from the battle. She was going in the direction of the palace. I had to follow her; what could Devon be doing? I managed to get off the mountain without losing sight of her.

She disappeared into the castle as I got into the wood. I took one last look at Caspian and followed her.

I got inside the castle and walked to the throne room, looking out to check if there was anyone watching. I was almost the open door when I heard footsteps coming my way from the throne room. I ducked behind a statue and the steps seceded. A minute later, the steps were back, followed by another set.

I heard a loud laugh I barely recognized as Devon's and then a struggling gasp.

I had to cover my mouth to prevent screaming, because that gasp was Caspian's. I followed Devon, taking great care not to be seen. I managed to sneak into the throne room undetected. From another set of doors, the Witch came out.

"Look who I found in the wood." Devon said, smiling.

"Oh, you're not so mighty now, are you, little prince?"

"I am a King!" Caspian said in outrage. The Witch hit him in the side of the head with the bottom of her ice staff and he tumbled to the ground, unconscious. I came out from my hiding place, ready to defend Caspian.

"Oh, look who else is here." The Witch said with delight.

"Why, isn't this my competition?" Devon laughed.

"Why are you here, Devon?" I asked.

"Well, isn't it obvious? She is my mother."

I stared at her, horrified. How could I have not seen it before? Her hair matched the Witch, so did her cold attitude. And her eyes. I knew now where she'd gotten them.

"Yes, she is my daughter, the one defending the island. I might as well tell you everything, seeing as you're going to die, anyway. Devon brought you here, posing as a weak little girl. She brought me back to life! Only killing her would destroy me! And she is stronger than you think. She had her fun with Caspian, too, if I recall. Anyway, she slipped a vial of sleeping potion into your friend, John's, drink to make you come here. Now I will kill you, once and for all, and proceed to take over Narnia." The Witch said. I was terrified. I had to think of something fast.

The Witch took Caspian's sword.

"Pity; to die at the sword that belongs to who you love most."

She advanced towards me, sword in hand, taking her time.

"Any last words?" She asked. I had to try; it was desperate and hopeless, but I wouldn't die without trying.

"Devon, you are not your mother. You can be kind, I've seen it. You don't have to be like her…" Then the Witch's sword came flying at me and, giving up, I yelled my last word:

"Caspian!"

I heard a scream.

But it wasn't mine.

The White Witch looked shocked. Her mouth was open in surprise, but she was frozen in place. Then, it was as if little cracks were appearing all over her. All at once, those cracks broke open and she exploded in a shower of ice.

I heard a soft whimper and looked down at the dying face of a beautiful girl.

Devon had a red hole just below her heart. Her mother had punctured a lung. I knew she would be gone.

"Devon, that was so brave." I told her, kneeling beside her.

She shook her head weakly.

"I was a coward, Susan." She coughed and a red stain appeared on my armour. "I wasn't brave. Thank you for showing me what bravery means."

"Devon, you are nothing like your mother. You saved us all." I told her.

She gasped, trying to get air.

"Tell Caspian- tell him I'm so sorry." A teardrop fell down her cheek and the life left her eyes.

I moved the hair away from her face, which even in death, was beautiful. She merely looked asleep when I closed her eyes, a lot more peaceful than with her eyes open.


	37. Chapter 36

Eustace

I woke up, not knowing where I was and yet somehow feeling peaceful.

I was in some sort of island, only instead of the sea being horizontal as always, it was vertical, making walls of water around the little islet. The sand was so light and smooth it was almost blinding.

Suddenly, my dragon skin started itching all over. I tried to scratch it, but it only made it itch worse.

I heard a soft purr and turned around to find the Great Lion, Aslan, standing right behind me.

I hadn't believed Edmund or Lucy when they had told me what Aslan was like.

To me, he was terrifying, but I felt safe, somehow. He was just magnificent. His long mane shone in the Sun and He was bigger than me. He was wild, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

He scratched the sand, which I found sort of odd. Then I felt pain on my shoulder, followed by an extreme sense of relief. When he was done, the itch was completely gone, and so was my dragon body.

I looked down at my hands, they were human again.

"Thank you, great Aslan." I said, going on my knees.

He chuckled, or something that sounded like a chuckle, it was hard to tell because he was a lion.

"Your cousins are about to go to war, I will show you the images. When the war is over, I will take you to them."

As I looked upon the face of the Great Lion, I realized maybe Narnia might not be so bad a place after all.


	38. Chapter 37

Edmund

I was fighting a troll, trying to stab it, when something quite strange happened.

All of a sudden, every single creature that had been fighting for the White Witch turned into stone.

I looked around on my horse and spotted a very confused-looking Lucy. _There must be something going on in the castle_ , I realized.

I ran to Lucy, almost crashing into her.

"Edmund!" She started. "Are you alright? Any battle wounds?"

"I'm fine, Lu, but we need to go to the castle, I have a feeling something's happening there."

"All right, we need Peter, and Selene would never forgive us if we left her out." She said.

They weren't too hard to find, it turns out they had been fighting together.

We all rushed into the wood. It was dark and sinister in it, much like the rest of the island.

"Look, two different sets of footprints!" I noticed. "They lead to the castle."

We went through the already-open double doors, and then ran through a corridor. I truly hadn't expected what was there.

Susan, kneeling over the body of a broken girl.

I saw Caspian, unconscious, at one side of the throne room. In the middle, kneeling in a pool of blood, was Susan.

I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, seeming a bit surprised but not opening her mouth. She pointed at the body at her feet and I recognized her.

Devon.

"Susan, what happened?" I asked while Selene and Lucy were healing Caspian.

"Devon is- was the daughter of the Witch." I gasped in surprise. How could it be? "The Witch told me that Devon was the one that had brought her back to life, which meant that if Devon died, the Witch would die, too. She was about to kill, me, but then, Devon shielded me, sacrificing herself to save me and Narnia." She explained. Caspian had walked to us, putting his arms around Susan.

"She was a true hero." Caspian said.

"She- she wanted me to tell you how very sorry she was for having betrayed you." Susan said. Hurt was written clearly on Caspian's face.

"We'll bury her in Narnia, tell everyone her tale: the girl that saved Narnia." He suggested. Susan nodded, then looked down and stood up.

"We should go." She said.

"I'll carry her." I offered. I knew I wasn't the strongest, but Selene had told me that Peter almost died and Su needed some time.

Selene took Peter's hand and I knew that something has happened between them. My friends tell me I'm too good at reading people-

I'm not, I'm just highly logical, which allows me to look past extraneous detail and perceive clearly that which others outlook.

"I have to go heal anyone that may still be alive." Lucy said and took off into the wood. The rest of us preceded slowly, our heads hung low. I was in the front, carrying the limp body of a brave girl.

When we got to the battlefield, mostly everyone had been cured. A fair bit of people had died, though. Thankfully, it was no one we knew. They would all be given First-class bravery medals and would receive the proper funeral in Calormen or Narnia. We got on the ship again, but there was no party this time. Just silence except for the calming sound of the waves as we travelled oversea. I went to my quarters, because that's where I go when I want to think. I wanted to think about Devon, and how wrong we'd been about her.

First, we thought she was weak, and was a lag in our brave quest.

Then, we thought she was a heartless girl undercover for her mother.

It turns out she was neither.

Devon could have stayed loyal to her mom and have us all slaughtered. Instead, she sacrificed herself to save the lives of people she hated. I just don't know one thing: who did she hate more; us, or her mother.

I thought I shouldn't ponder it so; after all, we were going home.


	39. Chapter 38

Susan

The images haunted my mind: Her blonde hair, turned red by blood, the hole just below her heart that was spewing red, and her eyes as the life flooded out of them.

My only consolation was that she had made it to Aslan's country, I was sure of it.

I turned my thoughts to happier things. Something I hadn't thought about in a while: Rilian.

His images hadn't faded, either. If I closed my eyes, I could see him before me again. His soft brown hair that I was sure would grow to look just like Caspian's, his soft, round face, and his tiny little fingers and how soft they were against my hand.

I even remembered the intricate pattern on his blanket.

I had an idea: I was good at sowing, _why not re-make it?_ I could keep it safe, then, one day, when I did have a baby, I would use it with him. I spent hours there, unmoving, sowing Rilian's blanket. When I finally finished, I looked at it proudly. It looked exactly like the one in my dream.

Along with it came darker thoughts, though.

An image flashed in my mind of a woman with such blonde hair, it was almost white, wise grey eyes, and fair skin.

I pushed the image away when I heard:

"Land ho!" We made it; we were in Ramandu's Island.

I ran on deck, seeing Caspian look out to the sea. I put my arms around his waist and my head on his shoulder. He didn't even need to turn around.

"How are you, My Queen?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

"So we finally made it, huh? Now we just need to lay the seventh sword and then, well…" I had a sudden realization that my time here in Narnia could be over in less than a week. Caspian must have noticed that I tensed because he said:

"Do not worry. Everything will sort itself out."

"But what if he sends me back?" I let go of him and he turned to look at me. He took my hands in his and said:

"Then I will look for you until the end of my days. Even if I have to sail to the end of the world again."

I kissed him, but, sadly, we were interrupted by Peter.

"Excuse me, Your Love-crazed Majesties, but I think we've arrived." He smiled and left. I rolled my eyes at him.

As we walked down the ramp, Peter's foot got caught in a loose floorboard. Selene actually caught him before he fell and hoisted him up. Then they kissed.

I guess it should have surprised me. I thought Selene wasn't able to love someone that was anymore _. But they don't call him Peter the Magnificent for nothing._

"Excuse me, Your Love-crazed Majesties, but I think we've arrived." I said to them. We all laughed, because we were happy to be done with danger.

We travelled to the Stone Table, where the banquet was there, still. I looked up and saw the Blue Star, but she was alone this time. Then, she came down, just as her father had done.

She was very beautiful, with silky and long blonde hair, a long blue dress, and grey eyes.

I hated her.

"You!" I yelled. "You took Rilian! You married Caspian!" She looked unsurprised, as if she'd been expecting it. She simply smiled.

"Susan, what are you talking about? I would never-"

"Yes, you would have." The Star said. "I am Liliandil, daughter of Ramandu. I have more important things to discuss with you, but seeing as you need to know, I will explain. Destiny was written the following way: Susan, when you left, Caspian was terribly depressed for many years. Everyone was begging him to find a queen, but he simply couldn't. None of the girls he met were close to you in his eyes. None gentle enough, or smart enough, or beautiful enough after meeting you. Three Narnian years after your departure, he set sail to find the Seven Lost Swords with Edmund and Lucy. When he got to my island after getting all swords, he became my friend. I sailed back to Narnia with him. Caspian would never have loved me like he loved you, but for the sake of his kingdom, he married me. When you accidentally came back, Susan, the future became unclear." I had not been expecting that. I hated her; nonetheless because she might be the one walking away with Caspian and Rilian. "Now, let's discuss your cousin." From behind her emerged a boy I recognized as my cousin, Eustace. He was actually smiling for the first time. He didn't look so ugly when he smiled, though.

"Hello, cousins." He said. Lucy and I ran to hug him at the same time. He received a pat in the back from the boys and Selene. "I'm sorry for having been such a pest all these years."

"I would tell you you're wrong, but it's true." Peter said, but he was only joking.

"Hello, Sire." We heard a small voice say.

"Reepicheep!" Eustace said, delighted.

"Now, let's proceed to waking your friend, shall we?" Liliandil said, smiling.

"Oh, yes please." Lucy said, clearly excited. One of the crew members brought him forward.

"You just have to lay the seven swords and he'll awake, along with the other three Lords. Also, it will ensure peace, to all lands, for hundreds of years." Liliandil instructed. We lay the swords, one by one, on the table. Upon laying down the seventh, they started glowing, and we heard some gasps, like someone was trying to breathe. I turned around and saw Pirate Boy sit straight up, almost falling off the sailor's hands. At the same time, the three Lords stood up. "You need to go to Aslan's Passage, now. At the very end of the world." She added.

Two days later, I was walking around the ship when I heard some singing. I went to the dragon head, where the song was coming from.

"Where sky and water meet,

Where the waves are ever-sweet,

Doubt not, you Reepicheep,

To find all that you seek,

The in the utter East,

Doubt not-"

"That's a lovely song." I interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, you startled me." Reep apologized.

"Oh, it's not a problem. That was some lovely singing." I said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. My mother used to sing that to me. It was talking about the End of the World. It has always been my dream to go to Aslan's country." He said longingly.

"Everyone, come look!" I heard Lucy call. I heard running feet coming up and Selene appeared.

"There you are! Come on!" She beckoned us down. "It's beautiful!"

Excitement coursed through me. I wanted badly to see what she was talking about.

I looked on to the sea, but it wasn't a normal sea anymore but a sea of water lilies.

"We have arrived." Drinian said.

"Come on, child." Alberta said, gesturing to a lifeboat. I got on after Peter and Pirate Boy. Then I felt two strong hands on my waist. Without looking back, I lay back, relaxing, knowing we were safe.

But then I tensed. I remembered my worst fear. We were headed right to it. My time in Narnia was down to hours.

"Susan, are you all right?" Caspian asked.

"What if He makes us go back?" But Caspian didn't have time to answer because the sea of lilies was gone and now, suddenly, we were standing on an islet. The sea around it was vertical instead of horizontal, making some sort of walls around the little island.

The sea suddenly parted and Aslan came out. I had been wrong: my time in Narnia wasn't down to hours, it was down to minutes.

A cold feeling of dread replaced the usual warm feeling I get when I see Aslan. I stood up taller and tried to keep myself from falling. It all comes down to this: either He sends us back, or He doesn't.

"Hello, Kings and Queens of Narnia. Hello, John, Queen Selene. Welcome to my passage. You see, when you die, you come here. Then I decide if you should go on to my country or not. This is the End of the world." He waiting so long to tell us only made it worse. "I must congratulate you, for making it this far. No one in the history of any county or island has reached my passage." He looked at each of us in turn. "Now, I will tell you your fate."

I thought I might die; I truly would if I couldn't stay. I was sick of living only in half a world. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and looked at everyone.

Peter was keeping his composure, but only someone who had lived with him for so many years would know that he was nervous.

Edmund was probably trying hard not to cry, which was strange, because Ed rarely cried.

Lucy was looking at Aslan with absolute faith. I wished I had the same faith she did. She probably thought that if He thought it was right to send up back, it would be for our own good.

Pirate Boy was looking at Lucy with regret. Probably at being too shy and never telling her how he felt. And now it was too late.

Selene looked terrified. Selene, who never showed fear or doubt or sadness, now looked as if she could die of fright.

Caspian was looking at me. He simply broke my heart. He was wearing the same expression he had when he found out his father had been murdered, like a lost puppy that had been kicked too many times.

I looked back at those gold eyes.

The eyes I had trusted to keep me safe.

The ones that had helped me.

The ones that had hurt me.

"You may stay."

It took me a moment to process His words.

 _You can stay_ , He had said.

I felt someone crashing into me, lifting me into the air.

Then the realization hit me like a train.

I could stay in my country.

I could marry my Caspian.

I could hold my Rilian.

I kissed the lips of the handsome king that had held my heart for so many years. A heart I could fully set free now. I was so happy, so extremely and irrevocably happy. I was crying, but for the first time since I kissed Caspian in the sea so many months ago, I was crying of happiness.

We all hugged, like one big, happy family. Because that's what we were. You don't simply go through all the things we'd gone through together and not become as close as one.

"All, except for Eustace. But worry not, Eustace. Narnia may still be in need of you yet." Aslan said, and Eustace looked proud, instead of angry or sad.

"Excuse me, Sire. All my life, I have dreamt of seeing Your Country. Even from afar. Could I possibly- I don't know…"

"Of course, my country was made for noble hearts such as yours." He said and a small boat appeared. "You may get on and row. You are welcome to stay in my country forever."

"Thank you so much, Sire. Thank you!" Reep said. He was beaming, his eyes shone like the Sun. It was very sad to see him leave, but he would be as happy as the rest of us there. And maybe, in death, we would see him again.

"Must you go?" Eustace asked sadly. He had grown rather fond of the mouse, I knew.

"I'm afraid my adventures in Narnia are over. Good bye, Jack, Lucy, Peter, Caspian, Edmund, Susan, and Eustace, goodbye my friend."

He climbed the small boat after Lucy had hugged him goodbye and rowed away.

The waves suddenly opened up.

"Eustace, your time has come to go home." We each hugged him, saying our sad goodbyes. I couldn't be fully sad, though, because everything was going to be alright.

We were back on the ship. After two weeks of peaceful navigating, I heard it.

"Land ho!"

I ran over to the front of the ship, getting the best view possible next to Peter, Lucy, Edmund, Pirate Boy, Selene, and Caspian.

I looked to the horizon and saw a castle glistening on a cliff overlooking the sea. Cair Paravel. I turned to Caspian and tackled him into a hug, followed by Lucy, Peter, and Edmund. We cried and smiled and we were the happiest children in the world.

"You like it, My Queen?" Caspian asked.

I nodded, because I was finally home.


	40. Epilogues

Susan

They ran past their nanny, laughing as she struggled to catch them.

"Come on, Devon!" Rilian urged his little sister. His brown wavy hair flew as he took a sharp turn. She struggled to follow him, but her beautiful blue eyes were bright as ever. "In here!" He said as he ducked behind their uncle's throne. Two adults entered the room.

"It all right, Alberta, let us handle this." Queen Susan said, putting a hand on the old woman's shoulder.

"I wonder where they are." King Caspian said, pretending not to see the locks of long black hair coming from behind his brother-in-law's throne.

"Oh well, I suppose they're not here. Come on, Caspian, let's check the bedrooms." The children giggled, covering their mouths.

Susan paused. "Wait, did you hear that?" More giggles emerged from the mouths of the children.

"Yes, I think they might be- here!" Caspian surprised the kids, lifting Rilian into his arms and tickling him. Susan took little Devon and ticked her stomach, where she knew the girl was extremely ticklish.

"Please! Stop!" Devon and Rilian pleaded, trying to catch their breaths. Both parents ceased to tickle their kids, setting them on the ground. Rilian put his arms around his mother's legs and said:

"I love you, Mommy." And Susan answered:

"I love you too."

Peter

It was a full Moon and Peter couldn't help but notice how beautiful Selene looked in the moonlight. Beautiful and fierce, just the way he liked it.

She laid her head on his shoulder, watching the stars and the Moon.

They were in Peter's balcony in Cair Paravel, where they went every night, but tonight was special.

Peter tried to keep his hands from shaking. He was so nervous.

He had practiced for this moment, looking in the mirror and trying out lines to say.

His palms were sweaty against the little box that contained his future. Selene turned and smiled at him and he knew it was time.

He got on one knee and opened the little box that contained the beautiful gold ring with a clear crystal on top. Selene gasped in happy surprise.

"Selene, you have my heart in your hands. I will love you for all eternity. So I'd like to ask: Would you marry me?"

Without hesitation or fear, Selene smiled and answered:

"Yes."

Edmund

"I'm proud to announce the opening of the Dawn Treader memorial!" Edmund said. Cheers erupted from the crowd. "The Dawn Treader will be put on display so everyone can have a chance to see the ship that carried the crew that took on such a brave challenge. The sailors of the Dawn Treader are to be given a special thanks and a special prize that consists of money. I will call them each, one at a time, to receive these medallions…"He proceeded to call the names of the crew, one by one.

Edmund spotted a beautiful girl, looking at him from the crowd, holding the hands of two little boys. She had long brown hair, which was wild and full of curls. Her skin was bronze and her eyes were dark.

He finished his speech and decided to go talk to her.

"Greetings, King Edmund." She said as she bowed. "I am-"

"Aida." He interrupted. She smiled, surprised.

"How did you know?" She asked.

It was her, Edmund knew. He remembered her perfectly; her beautiful curls and tan skin that didn't resemble either of his sisters. He had offered to give the speech in the sheer hope that she might me real. Because just thinking about his dream all those years ago filled him with warmth.

"From a dream, or a dream of a dream."

Lucy

Lucy ate the last biscuit in their picnic.

"Hey! I wanted that!" Jack joked. He put his arm around Lucy, watching the sunset.

Lucy smiled, warming Jack's heart.

He loved the way her red hair shone, the way her brown eyes danced when she smiled, her cute little freckles, and her kind white smile.

"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you looked with the setting Sun's rays on your face?" He told her.

Lucy was overjoyed, as she was every day when Jack told her about her beauty.

She had learned, thanks to her Pirate Boy that she was beautiful to him and that's all that mattered. She no longer cared about the marriage proposals Susan kept getting, even after she had gotten married last year. She only cared about the fact that Jack loved everything about her, even the things she didn't like about herself.

"I love you, Pirate Boy."

"I love you Lucy."

And then, in the light of the setting Sun, they shared their first kiss.

Eustace

Eustace was at home, thinking about his times in Narnia. He'd gone back since he left the first time, and seen his cousins again. Now, he was an old man sitting in a rocking chair.

An idea came to him. He rushed to his study and started his typewriter. Because he was going to write a book.

He would even change his name so people wouldn't know he was part of it.

It would be a book that would tell of his fantastic adventures and the adventures of those before him. A book about love and magic and fun. A book about magical one-footed creatures and fauns with red scarves and lions that talked.

He would write a book that would teach kids about true love along Susan and Caspian, about ruling their own little kingdoms with Peter, about overcoming fears with Edmund, about inner beauty with Lucy, about being brave along Selene, and about sacrifice with Devon.

A book, called _The Chronicles of Narnia_.


End file.
